


The Last Journey

by PerfectFlaw



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2018-12-08 17:57:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 47,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11651748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerfectFlaw/pseuds/PerfectFlaw
Summary: The Horcrux hunt. A loosely developed plan that had the golden trio traveling to locations that were associated with Riddle, all in an effort to find these dangerously corrupt artifacts. But, there is a change in strategy with Harry and Ron looking for these items while Hermione is charged with staying back and providing support for the Order. Even with these alterations, the Light was still finding themselves losing ground against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. With the situation looking bleak, the decision is made to move Hermione to a safer location. However, due to the shortage of available manpower, they turn to one of the most unlikely wizards to help them - Draco Malfoy. That was how she found herself traversing through the war-ravaged fields of Magical Britain with her arch-nemesis. What was supposedly a simple escort mission turns into a life changing journey for both of them.





	1. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers, I thank you for taking the time to read this work of fiction from the mind of this humble author. Now, before you get started on reading this, if you are looking for any fast shipping/courtship with heart fluttering moments that would make a sensible person go 'aw'...then you've come to the wrong place.
> 
> However, what I do offer to the readers is a chance to watch two polar opposites grow and learn to survive in a harsh, war-torn environment. And of course a grand adventure with tons of delicious plots and drama thrown in together!
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy!

**[So, tell me the story behind these two wands]**

_"There he is! Don't let him get away!"_

_Draco frantically scrambled to his feet before he hit the street running._

_His feet pounded the pavement, with his thighs burning in exertion. A small bead of sweat was trickling down the side of his face. His ribs felt extremely sore, most likely bruised or even broken from a previous scuffle. A stray arrow bounced off of the burnt ruins of what looked to be a shop. He heard the triumphant sneers of his pursuers increasing in volume._

_The familiar shades of a black robe fluttered within his peripherals._

_Draco spat out some blood and cursed under his breath. Staggering over some rubble, the blonde went slip-sliding through the dried pools of blood and waste piled beneath him. The unsteady feel of concrete nipped at his shins through his boots. His feet plunged through a muddy puddle, the depth of it being deeper than he first had perceived. A hidden length of jagged debris caught him mid-stride, momentum pushed him downward, and the blonde went sprawling across the pavement._

_Draco dove face first and kissed the cold, hard ground._

_His breathing started to become shorter. Pain was cutting off his oxygen, and his thoughts began to stray towards dangerous territory._

_Darkness enveloped him._

_With each passing second, the voices of his pursuers rattled louder in his skull. They were getting far too close for comfort, and a small bell of panic began to ring in his head._

_Draco managed to bring himself back to consciousness._

_A huge explosion vibrated the ground beneath him._

_Biting his lower lip, the blonde snarled at himself to start moving again. Draco managed to forcibly haul himself back on his feet, leaving a bloody print of his head on the floor. He groggily stumbled over a pile of marble and glass, most likely the expensive remains of a statue. His vision began to blur, and spots danced in his vision while the streets swirled out of focus. A bright red curse zipped past him and hit a collapsed building._

_"You fool! Why did you cast that curse just now?"_

_"I thought I would be able to get him from here!"_

_Draco smirked and spat out red-streaked saliva. Wiping his lips with the sleeves of his own robes, the blonde hurriedly staggered away from the streets. The sounds of pain and fear followed him down the dark alleyway as the unruly creatures pounced on the retreating figures of the Death Eaters._

_THUMP!_

Draco clumsily fell to the floor and brandished his wand, while looking around the room in confusion. One moment he had been running from a group of Death Eaters and the next...

Right.

He had decided to take a quick nap after arriving at the meeting location, but it didn't help that he had just been dreaming about the previous encounter. Even though this was a person he used to trust in the past, the war had a funny way of changing people. He needed some semblance of control so that he would not be caught off guard by anything – even a betrayal.

Letting out another yawn, Draco shook his head and rolled to one of the empty spots near the wall. His body still felt a bit weak. He was going to get as much rest as he could before he had to take action again.

* * *

**[What happened at Hogwarts?]**

Hermione Granger.

A girl that, if it was not for Harry Potter's existence, would have become the frontrunner for the holder of the most titles given to her.

The wonder witch.  
The Gryffindor Princess.  
The brains of the golden trio.  
The cleverest witch of her generation.  **[I heard this one before...]**

However, she also had a damning epithet that would stick with her until the end of time.

A Muggle-born.

Hermione let out a sigh as she felt her eyes linger on the book with no real focus toward the details. There was so much going on in the world, and here she was inside Hogwarts, staring at a textbook. She felt utterly trapped and useless about her current situation.

It also didn't help that, due to her inclination to prioritize her studies, her social skills had been stunted. She sometimes wondered if she would receive a bit more respect for her cognitive ability if she was of the opposite sex. There were those that were in the same camp as Hermione was—except they were born with a different set of genitalia. She felt fortunate enough to have gained a lifelong friendship bond with both Ron and Harry.

It was these bittersweet thoughts that led her straight to a truth that put her in this predicament; they had abandoned her. Technically, Hermione had consented to stay behind at Hogwarts while her two boys went hunting for the Horcruxes, only for the reason that she should stabilize an unsteady school situation. However, she should've never allowed any of them to persuade her, soften her stance, and change her mind.

She could still remember most of the memories behind the particular day, it had started like any other conference for Order members...

_**[FLASHBACK]** _

_Ron poked his head into the library and rolled his eyes when he spotted the girl that he was trying to locate up to her usual activity. Hiding behind one of the shelves, he took out his wand and carefully aimed it at one of the unattended books before quietly casting a Floating Charm on it. When he didn't see her visibly react to the floating object, he counted down from five before slamming it back down on the table. Seeing the bibliophilic witch jump in surprise, he took that as his cue to finish the small prank that he had started._

_He soon paled when he heard Hermione speak up first._

_"Look, Fred, I already told you that I'll polish your wand after I'm done studying this section, and if you really can't wait that long, then I'll just go and do George first for being patient!"_

_Ron froze at this implication and let his arms drop to his side before stuttering out, "Y-you're kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding, Hermione."_

_"Honestly, Ron," Hermione said, putting down the quill that she was using. "You should stop being so paranoid about our relationship, and were you really thinking that I would be unfaithful to you with both of your brothers?"_

_"Sorry," he mumbled, staring at his partner for a second._

_Adjusting his position, he tried to sweep around to give her a kiss on the cheek. Unfortunately, the witch's attention was drawn elsewhere, causing Ron to completely miss his initial mark. Not wanting to simmer in his embarrassment, he quickly recovered by using the momentum to carry himself over to where Hermione's book was stationed and pretended to be interested in the topic._

_"So, reading more about the Founders, huh? I don't think reading about history'll help us fight You-Know-Who."_

_"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Ron," Hermione huffed, crossing her arms, "I already saw it, so stop pretending that it didn't happen. I know you aren't interested in what I'm reading at all."_

_Ron waved his hand in front of his face and replied, "What? Who says I'm not? Maybe it's the reason that I missed because I got distracted by your book."_

_"Ron..."_

_"I mean sure, I've never shown much interest in the past, and I've always preferred Quidditch over studying..."_

_"Ron..."_

_"...and I know I'm not the smartest bloke around town. But I'll be damned if I don't start showing some care about the things that my girl—"_

_"Ronald Bilius Weasley!"_

_This immediately quieted the ranting teenager, giving Hermione a chance to hold her friend's hands. "Look, you don't have to worry about me, and you certainly don't have to be so paranoid about yourself, alright? I chose you because of who you are and not for anything else."_

_"Sorry, Hermione," Ron answered, taking in a deep breath before continuing, "Yeah, I definitely am your friend because you're you. It's just...I don't, I mean, I'm not doing it on purpose, you know? I mean, you mean a lot to me and, Harry as well, and uh..."_

_There was an air of awkward tension between the two as they stared at each other in silence. It broke when Hermione giggled out loud, playfully swatting her friend's shoulder._

_"Oh, you can be such a suave with words, Ron. I could definitely melt into your arms just by listening to you serenade me for hours."_

_"Huh?"_

_Hermione rolled her eyes at his typical response. "I don't know why the Sorting Hat failed to place you in Ravenclaw with your impressive usage of vocabulary and your obvious thirst for knowledge." She tugged at the young man's arms. "Come on, I'm sure you didn't come here just to bother me, right? Lead the way, my good sir."_

_Ron was able to regain his wit and linked their arms together, leading them out of the library. The two talked about pleasant nothings as they made their way out into the hallways and stepped around the staircase. The two stopped in front of the gargoyle and fed the password to the stone guardian, giving them permission to enter the office. When they entered the Headmaster's office, the two of them were greeted by a few familiar faces: Lupin, Arthur Weasley, McGonagall, and Harry._

_"I think everyone's here now," Lupin wistfully said, keeping his eyes attached to a loose piece of parchment on the table._

_Hermione inquisitively looked at Ron and tilted her head while asking him, "We had an Order meeting today? Was there a change in plans or something?"_

_Before Ron was given a chance to reply, a pink-haired Auror stepped through the door and boisterously made her entrance felt by the rest of the office. "Sorry I'm late! I've been really busy with all the recent attacks by the Death Eaters and the lack of manpower or support from the Ministry. We really have our hands tied and full nowadays."_

_Arthur shook his head, "It's alright, Tonks, we understand the pressure that you guys are under, and we didn't start the meeting yet anyway."_

_The pink-haired Auror nodded and greeted each person individually before situating herself into one of the corners. Once everyone had finally settled down, Lupin cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Now, the reason that this meeting has been called is due to the issue that was alluded to earlier by Nymphadora..."_

_"Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus," Tonks swiftly corrected him._

_"...the increased activities of the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters._

_Arthur nodded, taking his turn, "I've been keeping my ears to the ground, but with how chaotic and unstable everything's been, it's impossible for me to gain any sort of useful information. I would say that it's only a matter of time before He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named either completely takes over or topples the Ministry._

_A round of sighs and restless murmurings could be heard coming from the participants of the meeting. Finally, McGonagall came forward and addressed the group, "I believe Mister Potter has something that he wanted to share with us."_

_Taking this to be his cue, Harry fixed his glasses and coughed into his hands, "W-well, as everyone knows, the three of us, Ron, Hermione and I, have been doing a lot of research while making plans on ways to defeat Lord Vol- I mean, the Dark Lord. Based on the information that I got from Dumbledore, I think we're ready to make our move."_

_The silent confidence that Harry ended his statement with all but convinced every person of his determination. This meant that they were either going to support his endeavors or get out of his way, since they would not be able to stop him._

_"Harry," the Weasley patriarch hesitantly called out. "I know that it was from Dumbledore's instructions for you not to reveal whatever it is that you've set out to do. But don't you think it would be safer for you to at least tell someone other than Hermione and my son?"_

_"Dad!"_

_"Mr. Weasley?"_

_Before the two aforementioned teens were able to voice their protest, Harry stared directly into Arthur's eyes and spoke, "Even though the Headmaster isn't present any longer, I will keep his final commands." He then nodded at his two friends while adding, "I also trust them with my life, sir, so it won't be a problem."_

_Lupin let out a sigh and put a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "It seems like he isn't going to budge on this, no matter what we say."_

_"I know that, but...I just wish there was something more we could do Remus."_

_Harry shook his head and turned to face the others. "Look, rather than continue fighting over this issue, we should take action as soon as we can. The Dark Lord is still playing it safe and allowing his followers to do most of his work." Walking to the middle, he nodded and continued speaking, "We should strike now while we still have this small window of opportunity. They won't be expecting us to go on the offensive, so this is a strategic blind spot that we are hoping to exploit."_

_Grinning at the words coming from his best friend, Ron spoke up, "We've mapped out all the possible locations that we are going to search and also the best routes to get to them."_

_Hermione smoothly followed it up, "With all the information that's been gathered the past few days, we've been able to draw up all the potential areas that the Death Eaters will be attacking."_

_"It's a risky move, but right now they'll still be under the belief that I'll be here, getting guarded by the Order and merely defending against these attacks until the time for the inevitable encounter comes." He shook his head and tightly balled his hand into a fist. "I'm not going to stand by and let others dictate my life any longer. Since this is my battle now, I'm going to fight them the way I want to."_

_It became apparent from both the lack of any disapproving arguments and people's upbeat, positive body language that they were willing to pin their hopes upon this risky plan. A small chatter of excitement began to build up in the room, with everyone attempting to have some type of impact or input on what the three were going to do._

_In the midst of all the commotion, McGonagall quietly walked up to her most prized student and gave her a look that informed her that she wanted to speak with her privately. The two quietly walked out of the office, leaving behind the rambunctious chatter._

_"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about, Professor?"_

_Taking a deep breath, the former Transfiguration teacher told her, "Ms. Granger, I have a request to make of you."_

_Hermione blinked a few times before leaning in closer and asked in a worried tone, "What is it that you need help with? You know that I'll do anything to assist you, Professor."_

_A listless sigh came out from McGonagall's lips, her facial features aging with every breath that she took. Closing her eyes, she nodded and responded, "Hermione, I know that you have been planning this journey for quite some time now. But..."_

_"Professor?"_

_"As you are well aware, morale in Hogwarts has been on the decline with students living in constant fear of the upcoming war. One of the few reasons why it hasn't been a complete disaster here inside the school is because of you, Harry, and Ron."_

_Hermione crossed her arms and diverted her eyes away from McGonagall. She had a feeling she knew where this was going and dreaded the words that were going to leave her mouth._

_"For the sake of creating the perception of a safe environment inside of these walls-" She walked over to Hermione and lightly grasped her arm. "-I implore you to forego this journey and stay here with me."_

_The bushy-haired witch went through a wide range of emotions before settling upon that of resignation. Even if it wasn't said, the underlying message was there, and she couldn't ignore it. Letting out a sigh, she nodded before softly murmuring, "I'll have to tell Ron and Harry about this decision so that I can help them plan out a different route without me."_

_"That's wonderful Ms. Granger! I thank you for making this choice, I know it must be quite difficult for you..."_

_When Hermione went to relay this to her two best friends, the news was immediately met with anger and disbelief. After an elongated discussion and explanation in regards to her decision, both Harry and Ron eventually relented. However, even with all the alterations that she tried to offer them, it was clear that they would be at a huge disadvantage without her._

_It pained her to see the silhouettes of her friends on the day that they had set out to leave._

_**[END OF FLASHBACK]** _

Hermione bit her lower lip, conveniently skipping over the caustic fight that she had with both of them before stuffing the memory back into her mind, allowing herself to focus once again on the present.

There were times when she wondered if their little ragtag group had made the right decision in splitting up. Yes, she had given her former Head of House all the support that she could and even volunteered to continue being a Prefect and a Head Girl.

But when times were bad, it tended to distract you from everything else. Hermione found all of her classes becoming meaningless in the face of the inevitability: the upcoming war. It appeared as though every other student was feeling the same. The gravity of such imminence lingered at the tip of every person's mind.

Just looking at the students, at least the ones that had returned to Hogwarts, awkwardly attempting to get through school, was just another painful reminder of the current situation. Nobody bothered to put up a brave front as all of them scattered about, moving in a robotic manner and speaking in demoralized tones.

The present Headmistress tried her best to keep things at a familiar and consistent level: classes were held, Quidditch was played, and a sleuth of other school-like activities continued. There were even attempts at planning out trips to Hogsmeade.

Keyword: Tried.  
Result: Failed.

Just about everything seemed pointless. Two events had simultaneously transpired to drain and shatter the spirits of those that attended Hogwarts. The first was how the school's wards had been breached by the Death Eaters—effectively erasing the term 'sanctuary' for those that warranted it. The second was the murder of Dumbledore—destroying the only wizard that could've held back Voldemort.

Was the other side so blind towards this superficial cause that they were willing to give up everything just to see their hateful prejudice come to fruition? Could they not see the everlasting damage that this war would have on the magical community? Hermione knew that no matter who won the war, there would be a long road of recovery ahead.

If it would ever be possible.

The ugly prejudices that many of the old families harbored had fully manifested themselves with the revival of the Dark Lord. Even if the light side were to win this exhaustive battle, there was no possible way that things could, or would, go back to what they were before.

Hermione sighed as she tried to get back to her research, but she knew that her efforts would end in futility. Her eyes had not left the first sentence of the paragraph for the past hour, informing her that it was time for her to do something else. Putting the textbook away, the bushy-haired witch decided to visit one of the professors to inquire if they were in need of assistance.

* * *

_Draco steadily leaned himself against the large debris, making sure to blend in with the dark cover. All it took was one mistake for him to blow his cover. The worst part about the fiasco was the fact that he was still unaware of the error that he had committed. Still, even with the plan going awry, it wasn't a complete loss for him. There was a reason why a group of hostile were currently chasing him._

_"Let's see, a group of lowly Death Eater recruits, which means that they most likely have a low patience threshold. If I'm reading this right, then they'll move on to the next area in three...two...one..."_

_"He's not here, that thief must've moved on to another location. Let's keep going!"_

_Draco watched his pursuers abandon their current search to try their luck in the next area. Letting out an exasperated sigh, the blonde slumped down onto the granite floor. Rolling his head in a circular motion, he took out a small, brown bag from his robes and peered into it._

_"What's this..." Draco mumbled, confused by the contents that he had uncovered. They were all magazines, but none of them held titles that he was familiar with. "Fiesta? Knave? Razzle? Why would they be in such a tizzy over these? Do they hold some kind of big secret...?"_

_Casually flipping open one of the pictorial digests, Draco was completely unprepared for the exotic images to bombard his sight. Flushing in embarrassment, he quickly slammed it shut and averted his from the less-than-proper material. He wasn't a naïve virgin by any stretch of the imagination, but the very idea that this was what they were trying to guard baffled him. However, rather than discard the magazines, he discreetly kept some of them._

_"There has to be a reason why these things were highly valued, I'll have to do a bit more research to see what it could be."_

_Softly yawning, Draco looked up at the sky while shaking his head. It was a horrid, monochromatic pitch black that did not hint at clearing anytime soon. The tight and almost suffocating atmosphere seemed to match the bleak and dreadful predicament that the Wizarding World was suffering from. Few, if any major cities escaped unscathed by the ruination of the grand scale battles._

_Draco suddenly keeled over while clutching at the inner part of his left arm, hissing a low profanity under his breath. Usually, the pain arrived in the form of a dull ache, one that he could simply ignore from all the adrenaline that would subsequently course through his body. However, this time it was overwhelming him to the point where it was effectively blocking out his other senses. It was impossible for him to overlook it. The blonde continued to clamp down on the afflicted arm when he felt it start to involuntarily tremble. Gritting his teeth, he attempted to summon the mental discipline he'd learned from Occlumency to calm his mind_ _**;** _ _which unfortunately didn't seem to work. He grimaced at the realization that the source of agony was causing him enough torment that it was starting to overtake his consciousness._

_Pain relief topped Draco's priority list with the extreme amount of discomfort becoming increasingly unbearable. He did have an emergency potion available but due to its limited quantity and the distance he still had to traverse, he resisted the temptation to use it. Still, that didn't help his current situation in which he was struggling to cope with the pain._

_Draco grimaced when he realized just how vulnerable he was in this weakened state. If another person, one that was cognizant of his status, were to stumble upon him, then the likely scenario would be his immediate capture or death. Neither option appealed to his sensibility._

_Taking a look around, Draco noticed a capsized cart on the side of the road and made his decision. Rolling up the left sleeve of his black robe, he tore off a piece of his worn-out shirt before tightly wounding it around his exposed forearm. Feeling his limb become numb, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before slamming it against the toppled wagon. He groaned in pain while dragging his arm across the sharp edges._

_"Merlin," Draco had hoped that the shock from his self-inflicted wound would somehow counteract the one that was bothering him. But, the only thing that he managed to accomplish was the furtherment of more pain. The spasms were getting worse and he was running out of options. Was he really going to let everything end like this?_

_"No," he shook his head, "I'm not going to let myself be turned into one of those mindless sycophants! But...Snape told me...? What did he say...?"_

_His mind was in shambles._

_It was becoming excruciatingly intolerable._

_Draco let out a low, guttural cry before blindingly bashing his head onto whatever was nearby. For some unfathomable reason, the concussive blow was enough to dull the excruciating pain. The throbbing spasms had subsided to a more bearable level while his senses were slowly returning to normalcy._

_Why did it work? The only response that Draco could give was a nonchalant shrug._

_Ever since he trekked across Magical Britain, all in an effort to survive, Draco had made one rash decision after another. He had learned early on that there would be times when it was better to act first, ask questions never. A short yawn escaped from the back of his head while he leaned against a dull surface to help stabilize his balance._

_**Drip Drip** _

_"Hm? Is it raining right now?" Draco scratched the back of his head, wondering if he should find cover and soon. The blonde's eyes meandered towards the sky and saw the same pitch black void stare back at him. It indicated emptiness and revealed nothing- or maybe that was just an imagination from the depths of his subconscious._

_**Drip Drip** _

_This time he looked down and saw that the droplets was not water, but rather blood. Tracing his fingers up to the source, he could vaguely guess that a gash had formed around his forehead. A small frown entered his face before conceding that fact that the wound was a small price to pay._

_"Hey, did you hear?"_

_"What's up?"_

_Draco closed his eyes while shaking his head. He found it unbelievable just how bad his luck appeared to be during this recent stretch of his life. The only silver lining he could find was that neither of the speakers had noticed his presence. This most likely meant that they were merely halting to have a conversation._

_Wiping some of the blood off his face, Draco calmed his heartbeat and silenced his breathing before knotting some of the loose laces from his boots. Licking his dry lips, he then steadily inched closer to where he heard the discussion taking place. It had been a while since he had heard of any news, so any helpful information that he could get hold of was a welcome addition to his ears._

_"They said that the war is coming to an end and that the Dark Lord knows where the golden boy is hiding. So it's only a matter of time before they find him and eliminate him."_

_Hearing those words used in that specific tone brought back memories of a time when dodging mortality was not at the top of his priority list. If the circumstances were different, and he had heard the same statement being uttered in his presence, then there was a good chance that he would've joined them in agreement – heck, he might've been one of the loud-mouth braggarts to lead the boisterous declaration._

_Now?_

_"War really does change a person…" Draco bitterly thought, mentally cringing at the recollection of his sophomoric behavior._

_The death of Dumbledore, the escape from Hogwarts, the death sentence from the dark, the hefty bounty from the light_ _**,** _ _the harsh slap of reality_ _**–** _ _all of this predicated on the choice that he did not – no, could not make. However, even with such knowledge at hand, the nightmares did not lessen, making the prospect of a peaceful slumber a luxury._

_Knowing that the rest of the talk would be nothing more than gossip, Draco tuned them out from his mind. Now that he was ready to move again, he would need to clear the path. While he could technically try to sneak by them, there was a chance that he could be spotted along the way. It was a lot safer for him to minimalize all possible risks than to pretend that he had an invisible cloak at hand._

_Scanning the area, Draco spotted an unusually heavy looking rock from the corner of his eyes. Picking it up, he felt nothing abnormal radiating from the stone. The only thing noteworthy was how the smooth surface felt unnaturally rough against his callused fingers. Not having any viable reason for holding onto it, he cocked his arm back and launched it as far as he could to the opposite direction of where the patrol unit was having their conversation._

_"I heard something! It came from over there!"_

_Much to Draco's surprise, the rock he had thrown somehow caught their attention. Not wanting to press his luck, he continued to stay hidden while observing the two to get a gauge upon when the coast would be clear. It seemed like they were angrily arguing over something, with plenty of pointing and hand gestures flying around until they came to some type of agreement. This was evident by them nodding to each other before they headed towards the location of the sound. Watching them leave the premise, he quickly popped out from his hiding spot and hunched down into a low stance before moving onto the next sector._

_"Alright, what do we have here?" Draco muttered to himself in a low voice._

_Ducking behind a broken wall, he rapidly scouted the area, mentally creating a map of his surroundings and the nearby Death Eaters. From what he had seen, he was able to ascertain the status of the patrol unit simply from its use of magic – or lack thereof. While there was no restriction on the usage of spells, there were certain unfavorable conditions that came upon the one that had done the casting. Unless the user was powerful and confident enough in their abilities, it was agreed upon that people would simply limit their usage within safely warded parameters._

_It was downright humiliating at times to act like a Muggle, but when lives were at stake, none of it mattered._

_Assessing all of the information that he had gathered, Draco knew that all of these Death Eaters were either new entry recruits or low-level grunts. Their patrol routes were predictable and they wouldn't be able to use any spells. Carefully watching the nearby guard, he waited until the person's back was turned before maneuvering around some giants craters and loose debris. He made sure to keep his physical presence hidden as much as possible, ducking and hiding behind large covers so that there would be a lower risk of being discovered by any roaming eyes._

_Spotting an empty but standing building off to the side, Draco quickly made his way to the entrance and poked his head around to do a quick sweep. Aside from the usual collateral damage that everything had suffered during this tragic war, it didn't look worse for the wear. It was definitely safe enough to go in and catch a breather for a second. Sighing in relief, he rubbed the back of his head while leaning against the sturdy foundation._

_"If the Dark Lord wins the war, will he clean up and repair cities like these?" Draco let out a small sigh and shook his head at the absurd thought that had passed his mind. Opening up his robe, he took out a small, brown satchel and began to do an inventory check when he heard an unfamiliar voice speak up from behind him._

_"Who goes there?" Draco held his guard while pointing his wand at the location of the speaker._

_"I mean no harm to you, good sir," a man wearing the garbs of those that were given to label of a merchant stepped forward from the shadows. The aforementioned clothing was essentially a nondescript grey robe with a matching pair of inoffensively drab sweats. Most of them tended to carry their commodities in a giant bag that they carried on their back, this one was no exception._

_Draco rubbed the back of his neck and grumbled back, "Don't sneak up on people like that, merchant. Anyways, what do you have in stock today?"_

_"Ah, my mistake," the merchant raised his arms in front of his body and replied with a thick southern accent. "I'm afraid I cannot show you anything right now because if I were you, I would leave this building as soon as possible."_

_Without further explanation, the seller tapped Draco on the shoulder and made his exit. Before the blonde could ask what he meant by the warning, he heard a low growl coming from the dark hallway. Understanding the implications behind the merchant's warning, he immediately got up to his feet and followed suit. There was no chance he was going to wait around to see what kind of creature lay hidden within the dark depths of the empty building._

_Pulling up his hood once again, Draco went back onto the streets. He coughed into the folds of his elbow and wiped his mouth off of the sleeves of the robe. It had been quite a journey thus far, but until he was able to reach the meeting point, he knew that resting would not be a viable option. Exhaling sharply, he began sprinting at a brisk pace, gaining quite a good distance before the depletion of his stamina._

_Leaning against a broken pillar for support, Draco used the moment to catch his breath and calm his nerves. It was times like this that made him realize just how much he took for granted. Did Muggles really go through life using their feet? The only reason why he was unable to use any of the magical transportation systems was due to his criminal status. Otherwise, traveling in such a manner was beyond his comprehension. It was so inefficient and time-consuming, how did they ever get anything accomplished?_

_Feeling some life return to his body, Draco investigated the new area that he had entered. He immediately noticed a few interesting things about the sector. The first was that there was only a single Death Eater patrolling the entire place. Secondly, the specific route that the grunt was taking informed him that he was guarding something important – most likely an entrance of some kind. If this was the case, then it meant that the building behind the person had residents inside of it and was considered a pit stop or safe zone for the city's remaining residents._

_"Now, the only question is, if it's so important, why would they only just one person here by themselves? Shouldn't there be an entire group?" Draco thought to himself while he surveyed the edifice. The answer came when he spotted a few marks alongside the building. By all indications, this meant that there were runes and magical wards installed somewhere around the parameter. Even if he was unable to identify them, he was willing to stake his life that they were some of the highest security systems in place._

_Forcing entry into the building would be an impossible task._

_Rubbing his chin, Draco began planning for a different course of action when he spotted a giant poster. It was an enlarged picture of Potter with an 'X' marked over his head and a statement on the bottom written 'Most Wanted: Dead or Alive!' The thing that caught his attention was a small encrypted insignia at the bottom right corner. To most, it would look like harmless graffiti, but to him, it held a bigger significance._

_Resisting the urge to yawn, Draco pulled out a tattered scroll from the sleeve of his robe and unrolled it. Taking a look at the map, he shakily traced his fingers along a path until he came across what was specifically marked 'meeting point'. Closing his eyes and muttering an insult under his breath, he recalled the vague instructions that he was given about the aforementioned location. All he could do was chuckle mirthless while shaking his head in amazement._

_"Alright, I found Potter's poster with the sign, just like he said I would. Now I have to gain access to that bloody building."_

_Even with the objective in mind, Draco had to admit that he didn't see any potential openings he could exploit to get inside the sanctuary. There were a few scenarios that he tried to theorize in his mind, none of them giving him any guarantees on succeeding. However, the answer came to him soon enough when the individual patrolling the streets unveiled his left forearm and idly scratched at the tell-tale design of the dark mark. His eyes immediately flashed in recognition at the pattern that was attached to the symbol. Scanning the area, he was able to spot a very familiar looking ward that he had come across in his past escapades._

_Studying it for a few minutes, Draco felt a wave of relief wash over him. While he didn't recognize many of the inscribed security measures, there was one that he knew would help him give entrance into the building. It was one that granted temporary 'permission' to those that were keyed into the wards. He wagered that the guard's mark was keyed in so that it would disarm the wards long enough to allow him through the door._

_Only one problem remained, which was to get the Death Eater to cooperate with him._

" _Sure, sounds simple enough. Let me just stroll up to him and ask if he'll let me in." Rolling his eyes at his own foolish suggestion, he shrugged before adding, "I would probably have an easier time convincing Pansy to stop gossiping about the latest edition of Witch's Weekly."_

_Inwardly sighing, Draco shoved his hand into his robe, trying to formulate a viable plan when he felt something scrape his knuckle. Blinking a few times in confusion, the blonde took hold of the object and took it out from the pocket._

_It was the 'treasure' that he had pilfered from the previous group._

_Draco let out an exasperated sigh and proceeded to discard the garbage when a crazy idea slipped into his mind. He gave pause and shook his head in disbelief at the very notion that he was not only about to entertain the thought, but also try his hand at executing it. He let out a sigh and buried his face into his fingers. With how things had been unraveled for him in the past, he never really had a choice in the matter, did he?_

_With a pseudo-new plan readily available, Draco carefully walked towards the guard and stopped a few yards short of his vision. Carefully rolling up the lewd magazine, he made sure to toss it where the Death Eater might be able to spot it. He stared at the guard for a few seconds and blinked, wondering if his estimation was wrong. Looking around, he picked up an empty can and filled it with some loose stones before throwing it near the erotic pamphlet._

_"Huh? What was that?" the Death Eater narrowed his eyes in suspicion and walked away from his post to investigate the noise. "This is..."_

_As soon as Draco saw the Death Eater turn his attention to the magazine, the blonde immediately lunged forward from his hiding location and placed his opponent in a headlock. Using his right arm to hold the man's neck in place, he then shifted his body and placed his other one over his nose and mouth. He felt the body twitch a few times before lifelessly slumping in his hands._

_This wasn't the appropriate time to rest. There were too many things to do and his window of opportunity was rather short. Dropping the unconscious body to the ground, Draco made sure to slip the Death Eater's robe off before putting it on himself. He then quickly transferred most of his belongings to black garb that he had donned. Squatting back down to the guard's body, the blonde carefully patted him down before finding the one item that he was looking for – the ration card._

_Draco let out a yawn and stretched his arms into the air before lifting the unconscious body upon his shoulder. Dumping the Death Eater, he then grabbed the aforementioned person's arm before placing the dark mark against the access panel, temporarily disabling the intruder seeking wards and granting him permission for a limited time period. The Malfoy heir paused and closed his eyes, contemplating his next decision._

_"I haven't cast a spell in a while, so I shouldn't suffer from any backlash." Draco let out a deep breath before picking up the fallen Death Eater's wand. Pointing it at the unconscious individual, he then used an Obliviate on him before disposing of the wooden stick. Nonchalantly shrugging, he calmly walked into the building before feeling the wards activate the security parameters again._

_There was a reason why, even if they were in Magical Britain, most people placed a self-restricted taboo on the usage of magic. Even if, by some chance, the charm did not suppress the appropriate memory, the 'magic-punishing' creature would sniff out the remnants of the spell being used and quickly migrate to the area. These monsters that were labeled as 'Evolved' were not something that wizards were normally capable of handling. Blindly running into one without proper preparation would only lead to a fruitless death._

_Shaking his head, the first thing that Draco noticed was that it was a very dark and musky area. The air hardly seemed clean and the atmosphere reminded him more of Knockturn Alley than a rest stop. He wasn't sure why, but he found it hard to get comfortable or to properly draw in breath. Swiping at the air in front of his face, he grimaced and took hold of his left forearm. Still, out of everything that they could've recreated or preserved, the people of this town had decided to pick a bar._

_"A goddamn bloody pub? Well, a bit of shade and cover would do well for me I suppose…"_

_Draco did his best to avoid any unnecessary contact with another person, keeping his head and posture low while hurrying over to the darkest and most isolated corner of the room. Letting out a sigh, he then brought over an unused stool and sat down upon it. It wasn't the most comfortable of settings, but it was better than what he had been doing the last couple of days – running._

_After waiting and failing to detect his contact, Draco decided to take a breather and briefly rest on one of the unused rooms of the pub._

Draco let out a soft yawn and stretched his arms while cracking the tense muscles on the side of his neck. The nap had certainly done its job of reinvigorating his body and his spirit. He was also pleasantly surprised to find that nobody had come around to bother him, or even mug him during his brief period of inactivity. Even though he wanted to sleep a bit more, he knew that he had to start moving again. It was too dangerous for him to stay in one place for an elongated period of time.

Sneaking back to the main 'hub' area of the pub, Draco once again situated himself at the corner of a dark corner. Rubbing the back of his neck, the blonde looked around before crossing his arms while arching his back against a wall. He reached into his pocket and rummaged around before taking out a cigarette and shoved it into his mouth. If there was one thing he had to admit, it was that if the Muggles done anything right, then it was this thing that they called a smoke. These were one of the rare habits that he had managed to acquire from observing and emulating the Muggleborns. Kicking his feet back, he shuffled around for a lighter when he found his brief moment of reprieve being brought to a halt by a silky and familiar voice close to his ear.

"You're late, Mr. Malfoy."

Not wanting to take any more risks, Draco unsheathed his wand and pointed the tip of it at the speaker. Staring at the other man with a cool and calm demeanor, he collected his wits and responded, "Prove to me that you are who you say you are and not just someone who has morphed themselves to look like you, Snape."

"Very well," the former Potions professor replied as he nodded. "Though I hope you realize that this exercise is futile; if I were able to identify you from a distance, then I could've easily had you captured or disposed of – that is, if it were my intentions."

Snape saw that his godson was not moving an inch so he decided to give him the information that he wanted. "As I recall, you came up to my office and complained about being transformed into a ferret…"

"Enough," Draco hissed back as a light tint of red crept up to his cheeks. Clearing his head, he opened his mouth and was about to dispute the man's claims of his tardiness but thought better of it. There was no time for him to waste. "I lost track of time and had to avoid traveling on certain roads if I wanted to keep my head on my shoulders."

Not bothering to linger on the subject, Snape raised an eyebrow before commenting, "I'm surprised that you know what those are. Cigarettes Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco shrugged while he replied back, "It's much better than a calming drought..." pausing, he then added, "...tastes better too."

The two paused in their conversation when a few people passed by their position and only continued when they were left alone.

"So, how is my mother doing?"

"Draco," Snape began to say, steering the conversation to a different topic. "I believe I have a temporary solution for your troubles."

Draco knew that Snape was avoiding the question, but he knew that time was short and that there wasn't any time to spare for pleasantries. Still, it would've been nice to get an update on his family – especially his mother. Nodding, Draco motioned for him to continue.

"Come to Hogwarts with me," Snape said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Huh?" was the most intelligible response that Draco could come up with when he heard the answer. "Could you care to repeat that, because I could've sworn that my godfather was suggesting something absurd."

"I said for you to accompany me when I go to school."

"Yeah, I thought that's what you said and what I to ask you is, are you out of your bloody mind? Do you not remember what happened there?" Draco stopped himself before gritting his teeth and continued, "Well, no, of course you do, you were the one that performed it. But bloody hell, you think they'll just let you waltz right back in after everything you and I have done? You know that the Light is also out to capture me, right? Wait, is that what you were going to do? Was that your plan all along?"

As soon as he said this, Draco attempted to leave his seat but Snape swiftly grabbed him by the shoulder and shook his head. "You would do well to remember that we aren't exactly in the friendliest of places. Besides, do you not remember the oath that I swore to your mother? The pull of the spell is still ringing inside of me, so no; the thought of betraying you or abandoning you did not cross my mind."

When Draco sat back down on the stool, Snape pressed on further. "As I was saying, Hogwarts is considered a neutral ground by both the Light and Dark and it is still headed by McGonagall. Now, how long it will remain as such is a mystery even to me, but it would appear as though both the Dark Lord and the Light Side are in agreement to leave it alone."

The ex-potion professor then cocked an eyebrow, "I will go first to explain the situation and ensure your safety. The only thing you will have to do is most likely disarm yourself of your wand and cooperate with the forces that have taken residence inside of the school."

Draco scratched his head in frustration. There were so many questions going through his mind and it didn't help that it was Snape's instructions that he was following the entire time. He knew about his godfather being a double agent for both the Light and Dark, but, which side did he truly favor, he wondered. Was he merely being assisted and held in this position until he could be used to garner further support from either side?

Draco wanted to throw everything away, reject the proposal, and simply walk out of the dirty bar. However, he already knew that the decision was made for him, again, without his consent. Could he say that he truly had a choice in the first place? How long could he survive by trying to avoid both sides of the war on his own?

Rubbing the base of his nose, he then muttered, "Alright then… what's the plan? At least give me something so I can have a rough guideline as to what you want to do. I'm not going in there like a blind Gryffindor; Merlin knows how that ever works out for those idiots."

* * *

Two people popped out from the Floo Network; one was an unknown masked entity, and the other was the former Potions professor, Severus Snape. McGonagall coolly greeted the two, crossing her arms in a defensive position and stared at them suspiciously.

"Well, Severus, what brings you here?" Her tone was bitter and cold. "You realize that I'm only giving you this chance because of what you've told me. I have yet to see proof of your supposed allegiance to Albus' cause."

"Minerva," Snape calmly began, meeting her gaze unflinchingly, "I don't have much time to stay, there's much work at hand, and the Dark Lord requires it to be finished. But speaking of the deceased Headmaster, grab a Pensieve and I shall share that particular memory with you later, but for now, I have some news to share."

"Ah yes," McGonagall dryly retorted back, her voice laced with venom, "I'll view it at my own disposition, but I'm willing to bet that he said some nonsense about the greater good and trying to see the good in everyone and how everyone deserves a second chance, am I correct in this?"

The spy's face betrayed nothing. "If you already know, then you should realize that I had to do what was necessary for his plans to come to fruition."

"Even at the cost of his life while making you do it, Severus?"

"Plans can always change," Snape coolly replied back, his unchanging demeanor holding steadfast. Walking over to one of the living portraits, the double-agent stared at it for a moment, ignoring the tightening tension inside the room. Taking a deep breath, he opted to continue carrying the conversation.

"More than anything he wanted to keep his students, all of them, from going down the wrong path."

"Students? The only ones I can think of that were in any jeopardy are your snakes, Severus," McGonagall's shakily responded. It was clear from the visible strains from her neck that her patience was being stretched quite thin.

"Especially your godchild that you pander and dote on so much, Draco Malfoy. I wouldn't be surprised if he joined ranks with his father and is causing havoc at this very minute." The headmistress' quiet, yet stern voice bellowed within the room, any thought of light pleasantries being replaced by caustic bitterness. It would only take a single comment from the other speaker to ignite the underlying tension.

"He deserves a second chance, he didn't know what he was doing," Snape said with no regard to the atmosphere. It was either he cared not for the situation or was ignorant of the atmosphere, but regardless he boldly pushed the conversation forward.

"Who? You mean that child, Draco?" McGonagall exploded in an uncharacteristically intense manner. It was unnatural for her to lose her cool, and yet all the stress and anxiety that had piled up finally manifested itself. "He's main reason that our school was attacked in the first place! If it wasn't for that boy-"

"I can tell you first hand, Minerva," Snape coolly said with a slight rise to his voice, "That when the Dark Lord sets his sights upon you and gives you a task to accomplish, you're given no choice but to comply."

McGonagall grimaced at the implications and let out a tiresome sigh. The added weight of all responsibilities in the short period of time had seemingly added a few years to the Headmistress.

"You know that Albus would've done anything for the safety of his students."

The Headmistress mulled the information, wanting to state an opposition but knew that Snape was correct in his assertion. Relenting to this fact, she shook her head and muttered about the follies of her action. Before she could relax, she pointed to the other Death Eater and asked, "Are you sure it was safe for you to reveal everything that you've told me here?"

She then looked at the still, masked individual standing behind Snape. "You know, you still haven't answered the question, Severus. What brings you and your fellow Death Eater here?"

The former professor took a quick glance backward and smoothly drawled, "Minerva, I won't do anything that requires me asking an oath of you, however, I want your word that no harm comes to this person while they are to stay at Hogwarts."

This raised McGonagall's curiosity as she pursed her lips, replying brusquely, "Have you gone mad Severus? How could you possibly think that keeping a Death Eater near the students here would be a good idea?"

Snape merely raised his arm and gave a nod to the aforementioned masked individual came forward. McGonagall made haste to her wand, keeping it readily available in the case of an attack. Instead, the only thing that occurred was the unveiling of the face that hid behind the mask.

Draco Malfoy.

Draco noticed that his former Headmistress had tightened her grip on the wand—knuckles whitening, arms shaking, eyes shuttering. If he wasn't standing next to his godfather with the assurance that he would be kept safe throughout the meeting, he would've immediately sprung into action. However, keeping the words in mind, along with his own series of promises, he silently sat down on the chair, waiting for McGonagall's next response.

"This... this is madness..." McGonagall muttered to herself, slumping down in a chair. It appeared as though she was contemplating her previous decision and was unable to make up her mind. It was only mere seconds that ticked off the clock, but to Draco, they felt like an eternity.

Bullocks.

Draco mentally cursed at himself. He hated the precarious situation that he was currently placed in. He had learned an early, harsh lesson during the time that he had spent being on the run whilst trying to survive. Never allow yourself to become confined without having the option to escape. It was an excruciating lesson, one that he had locked away in his mind, and also something that he kept close to his heart to ensure that it would not be repeated again. Hence his desire to escape from the room at the very moment.

If it wasn't for his godfather promising him that this place would provide him a warm meal and a safe place to nap, he never would have taken up the offer. He allowed bodily temptation to override his instincts. Now, all he could do was waiting for judgment to pass upon him by the woman that had replaced Dumbledore.

The Malfoy heir closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. He figured that at best, she would kick him out of the school, forcing him to go back to the dangers of the street; which was fine with him. Worst case scenario was that both he and Snape would be taken by the Order, never to see the light of day again. Draco waited with bated breath as he noticed that McGonagall was finally ready to announce her decision.

"I'll do my best to create an arrangement for Mr. Malfoy's temporary stay here at Hogwarts," she finally said in her usual professionally stern tone. "However, there are some conditions that I want him to agree upon, or else, I'll have no choice but to hand him over to the Order."

Before Draco could tell her to stuff the offer, he was cut-off by his godfather answering for him, "Of course Minerva, what're the conditions?"

"First of all, I've called in an additional person to join us for this meeting. Arthur, could you please come over now?"

Draco sighed as he buried his face in his hands and muttered something inaudible under his breath. Once again, he was stripped of the right to make this decision and now he was facing the consequences of being a prisoner for the Order. Dread began to fill his senses as he heard the telltale signs of the Floo coming alive. He knew that he couldn't blame anyone except himself for agreeing to come to the school in the first place.

Now it was only a matter of them organizing his prison sentence without his consent.

**[She told me that the group talked about a few more things, the contents itself could not be found, but I was also told that they were not important]**

Draco yawned while stretching his arms in the air and leaned back against the chair, unloading his feet upon the nearby desk. Aside from a few safety stipulations, for both himself and the students, there wasn't much that they demanded from him. It went against all expectations and frankly it was a nice surprise. Sure, McGonagall was going to temporarily confiscate his wand, and he had to be in his Death Eater mask at all times. But it was a small sacrifice that he was making in exchange for a chance to rest his weary body. He wasn't going to admit it, but all the running and traveling that he was doing had started to wear thin on his sanity.

It was going to be a short reprieve, but he was going to make the most of it.

"Minerva, there's still some information that I'll share about the Dark Lord's plan." All eyes turned to Snape. "You-Know-Who is going to invade Hogwarts and transform it into a school like Durmstrang, at least similar to it in its darkest times."

The occupants in the room stared in disbelief as they digested the information that was given to them. Arthur was the first one to break the tension as he piped up, "We have to do something about this! I'll call some members of the Order so that we can resist this movement. We also need to start doing some kind of evacuation plan and maybe have-"

Snape whipped out his wand and pointed it at the Weasley patriarch. "You will do no such thing," he sneered. "As Minerva already knows, I only divulged such information under strict confidentiality. You must realize that if we're to take any visible action on this plan, then there will be consequences; very dire consequences."

Arthur mimicked the movement, brandishing his wand and aiming it at Snape's face. "We can't just leave the children here! There's no doubt that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is going to do such unimaginably horrible things to everyone here. No, forget that, think about the children!"

The Malfoy heir looked at the tense exchange between the two men and wondered if he would bear witness to some spectacular bloodshed. It wouldn't surprise him if the fight extended to those that were outside of the room. Draco fished around his robe and tightly gripped his wand as he eyed the former Transfiguration professor. Even if he got the first move on her, would he be quick enough to make any difference? His mind went beyond the fight and wondered if he would be able to use this commotion to escape Hogwarts.

However, before the tension could escalate to such proportions, Snape answered in an almost bored voice, "You-Know-Who is not a proponent of simply murdering off a single population of our world. He may have a lot of negative connotations attached to his being, but if the one attribute that you cannot use against him is that of his intellect."

This time, it was McGonagall that spoke up. "Severus? What're you trying to say...?"

Snape shook his head and slowly started to lower his arm. "Yes, people do fear the magnitude of power that he holds, however, that one emotion is not enough to capture people's hearts. You have to realize that he's quite intelligent and charismatic as well, good enough to hold a permanent sway in a human's heart. He pulls you in with his words, charms you with his aura, and blindly gets you drunk in the vast pool of his dark magic."

Draco looked away as he heard the description of the Dark Lord come forward. As much as he wanted to deny the words coming out from his godfather's mouth, he knew that there was truth to what he was saying. The overwhelming feeling that crushed his senses was fear, and he would say that it was because of this that he had been forced to go through with his regretful actions. But the reality of the situation was that a part of his subconsciousness wanted to obey and please the Dark Lord—to be the sole focus of the man's praise.

Maybe that was why his aunt Bellatrix became insane.

"The only people he has murdered," he continued, "were those that opposed him and the child of the prophecy." He quirked an eyebrow as he added, "Yes, people that continue to stay on neutral territory are eventually considered to be the enemy as they're given plenty of warnings by both him and the Death Eaters. And indeed, Death Eaters have murdered and tortured those that might be considered innocents, but the Dark Lord has not strayed from what I've mentioned."

The leap in logic was mad, yet brilliant, and Draco could see McGonagall and Arthur, struggling to contradict the argument. The double agent quipped up before anyone could provide a counterpoint. "Back to the original discussion. Nobody here will make mention of the upcoming invasion; but, there's a small issue that must be dealt with."

"Severus..." McGonagall said in a slightly shaky voice, "Tell me... just how well known are those that are involved in the Order? Those that are part of the light side?"

"That is why I'm here. As long as they are to follow the guideline that the Dark Lord will place in this school, the children here would be safe from any harm. You as well, Minerva, have not been placed on any list and will be considered as a neutral party when Hogwarts gets taken. However, I do know of a particular person that will be in dire straits if they were to continue to stay here."

The blonde jumped up from his chair when he heard Arthur slam his fist onto the wooden desk. Just the fact that the Weasley patriarch had physically demonstrated a modicum of duress was telling of just the amount of inner frustration the man must be feeling. There was no time for contemplation as Draco was able to ascertain the immediate danger this news would have upon his welfare.

Arthur sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Yes," he sounded defeated. "As much as I hate to agree with you, if the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord know of their identity, then she certainly isn't safe here for much longer."

The mention of a female piqued his ears, bringing Draco's attention immediately back to the conversation. There was someone here that was so important that they were personally identified? He wondered what this person had done that would draw such consideration. Was she a former Death Eater that was in a similar position as himself? Could it be a woman that held some type of damning secret? Now that his curiosity had been touched, he needed for it to be quenched.

There were some suggestions as to what they would do to solve this particular predicament. Members of the Order would be unable to assist as they would not arrive in time, and also they were thin on manpower and could not afford to bring any extras for the moment. Arthur was also unable to do anything as he had to finish an important assignment before the next meeting.

"Then how about we have Mr. Malfoy escort her to the meeting point? The way I see it, this will solve most of the problem that we have right now."

Draco rolled his eyes when the room deteriorated into another cacophony of babbling arguments. Even though they were supposed to be responsible adults, all they managed to do was continuously waste time. He knew that it was time for him to stop staying back and to be proactive with his own involvement. So far, most decisions had been made for him, without his thought or input, especially when he would be directly associated with the choice. The Malfoy heir took matters into his own hand as he raised his wand and asked in a loud and clear voice.

"Would it be good enough if I took a magical oath? I'd like to get a meal and take a nap before I run out of time and have to leave."

This had the intended effect that Draco wanted as silence reigned supreme. He looked into his godfather's eyes, imagining the long tirade that he would have to suffer through. However, it never came as the only words that came were, "You sure?"

Draco paused for a second and carefully chose his words before replying, "From what I understand is that I can't be trusted with such a task, considering my past history. Instead of wasting time trying to figure something else out, I'll give a magical oath upon the safe deliverance of this person. Wouldn't that be alright?"

The Headmistress exhaled and shook her head before saying, "Mr. Malfoy, as much as I despise your previous behavior and cannot find myself to forgive you for your transgressions, nonetheless, we are forced to entrust you with this task." There was a small pause before she continued, "However, if I so much as hear that harm came her way through your hands, then not even Merlin or the binding contract of the magical oath will save you from me, understood?"

Draco held his tongue, knowing that this was not the time to be making any of his usual snide remarks. His survival instincts were screaming at the presence of the woman in front of him, the powerful witch that Dumbledore had trusted to be one of his close advisers. Still, his desire to know who this person had now reached its apex. Who was this person that was able to pull out such a powerful and maternal emotion from this woman?

He couldn't wait to meet this influential individual.

"Arthur," McGonagall said as she turned to him, "I'll stay behind to ensure the binding of the magical oath, and that he fulfills his end of the bargain for his stay at Hogwarts. I know how busy you are, so please find the Head Boy and forward a message to him for me."

"And I must be on my way, Minerva, take care. Until next time," Snape said as he used the Floo system to leave Hogwarts ground.

* * *

The Great Hall was bereft of its usual multitude of giggling school children and the jovial mood that permeated the huge room. All that remained were a handful of students that were all closely sitting together, the mood being quite somber and tense.

"...Greengrass?"

"Merlin! You kidding me? I would definitely want to have a chance at going into the broom closet with her, I probably wouldn't mind trying to go beyond just a snog, you know, with the war going and all. Never know when you have another chance, right?"

Of course, no matter how strained the atmosphere might be, there were some that didn't take the situation too seriously.

"Okay, that one was easy, what about...Parkinson?"

"What, you mean Pansy Parkinson? That one girl who clung to Draco everywhere he went? I'm willing to bet she followed him into the bathroom and even helped the little bugger wank-off at night."

One of them eye-rolled before continuing, "Well? You didn't answer the question, would you, or would you not?"

"I'm not THAT desperate Justin."

The two of them began to snicker before a female interrupted their conversation.

"Hey now, that's not nice guys."

This time, Kevin rolled his eyes and replied, "Oh come off it Parvati, you know what a nasty bitch she's been for the entire time that she's been attending Hogwarts. Why would you try to stick up for her?"

Parvati shook her head, "It's just that...I feel sorry for her, you know? I've known her since we were kids, and she's had everything planned out for her. She's basically been groomed to be a pureblood housewife, you know? You do know that there's a reason for her being so obsessed with Draco, right?"

While the two boys stared intently at Parvati and shook their heads in unison, another more sensible conversation was taking place on the other side of the table.

"You alright, Hermione?" Neville frowned, looking at the Head Girl. "You're unnaturally quiet today."

There were numerous things running through her mind, most of them revolving around the war itself. Of course, she couldn't voice any of her concerns as she knew that most of the school population unconsciously looked towards her as a source of support. Even if it felt as though most of the student body was going through the motions of school, it was better than having a panic attack seize them.

"Ah, I'm just thinking about the Runes essay that's due soon. Don't worry, I'll be fine Neville."

Hermione managed to smile back at her friend as she stared back down at the textbook that she had brought with her to the Great Hall. Her friends meant well, but they couldn't provide her comfort in the same depth that her two best friends could.

The problem was in the fact, aside from Harry, none of them had Voldemort before his revival, so the news of his triumphant return had shocked them. Sure, some had been serviceable when they went to the Department of Mysteries, and when the Death Eaters broke into Hogwarts. Those were under circumstances when Dumbledore was still alive; a situation totally different from the current scenario where a full-fledged war was waging without the oversight of the powerful wizard.

Ginny, Luna, Seamus, and Dean had soon joined them at the table and they attempted to make small talk. She was appreciative of their efforts, but it greatly irked her that they were trying to have a conversation, all while skirting around the main issue that was plaguing everyone's mind. It was times like this that she missed having Ron's blunt nature to push these sensitive topics to the front.

Hermione sighed when she recalled that the Order meeting was the last time she had a proper interaction with him. She didn't know if, or when she would see him again, and she didn't like how they had departed on a bad note.

 _"We've been through so much, we really shouldn't have fought there but...he can just be so infuriating sometimes!"_ Hermione thought to herself. Closing her eyes, she rubbed the base of her temples before shaking her head. With that being said, the next time they met, she would apologize to him properly, and maybe after that, they could...

"...is what I heard happened the past hour or so."

The bushy-haired witch blinked a few times as the rumor flew past her ears. Usually, she paid little heed to such gossip since her mental acquisitiveness could not bother to retain puerile information. However, she had collected enough words swimming around the rumor mill to have her mind become piqued by this one.

"Wait, could you repeat that Seamus?"

The Irish wizard shrugged repeated the circulating gossip, "So...I heard from Cho, who heard from another fifth-year Hufflepuff, who then overheard from a painting, who just so happened to get this information from a ghost, that Snape had somehow brought a group of Death Eaters to Professor McGonagall's office and had taken her out!"

Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes since that was one of the more absurd ones that she had heard thus far. If the Headmistress of Hogwarts went down, then all of the school would know of it. She bit her tongue as she knew that there was always some sort of truth hidden in these wild theories.

"Well, it was said from the vineyard of Nargles, and told by the Wrackspurts, that a double-sided Galleon that was lost with debts was going to be collected by an angel. An angel of death~"

None of those that were sitting at the table bothered to ask or translate what the girl meant and merely chalked it up to Luna simply being Luna. Hermione looked over to Ginny and raised an eyebrow hoping that the signal was enough of a cue for her to start.

"I'll just tell you everything since I'm just as confused as the rest of you guys. Basically, it's agreed that Snape was inside of the office, having a meeting with Professor McGonagall."

Hermione allowed a smile to grace her lips when she heard the red-headed Weasley go into 'gossip mode'. Ginny had the rare gift of taking all the gossip floating around the school and retelling it in a comprehensible manner.

"It's not clear if he went in alone or brought a group with him inside, but I do know that all they had was a meeting. Heck, if our Headmistress really did get killed then I think everyone inside the school would know, right?"

Hermione nodded in agreement when the youngest Weasley managed to voice her previous thought.

"It could also be said that members of the Order were ready for this, and they are now holding them for interrogation so that there could be a final confrontation with You-Know-Who."

She could tell that this was going to get out of hand and fast. Not wanting the conversation to deter any further, Hermione cleared her throat as she asked an innocent question. "So, did you get any news back from Harry?"

Just the mention of her boyfriend gave way to a subtle shift in Ginny's jovial mood. The change itself was quite small and hard to recognize since, at least outwardly, there was nothing to indicate that the subject was bothering her. However, after being in the constant company of the red-head, she had come to identify some of these signs. A slight sagging of the shoulders, a light blush of the cheeks, and the unfocused dilation of the pupils. No matter how hard the youngest Weasley tried to assure the group that she was 'fine' with the situation, Hermione knew that she was anything but what she had claimed.

"So," Hermione said, listening to Ginny wrap up the summary of the rumor mill. "The only thing that can be ascertained from this is that there is a 50% probability that Snape is, or was here, and that the office was used as the main location."

There was one thing that stopped her from claiming this as a fact, and that was how the traitorous murderer had come back to Hogwarts. Not only that, but he presumably had a meeting with McGonagall. If she were to presuppose that the previous statements were true, then what had happened between those two? She was missing a crucial piece of information, and she wasn't going to simply accept the fact that the former professor had somehow been able to waltz back to the scene of the crime with no repercussion.

"Hey Hermione, the Headmaster... I mean Headmistress McGonagall wants to see you."

She had been drawn out of her mind when she saw the Head Boy hand her a piece of paper, "Thanks, Anthony." She stood up from the table as she turned to her friends, "I'll see you guys in class later."

She began to make her way to the office with many thoughts and scenarios circulating in her mind. However, she was going to quell her Gryffindor tendencies and allow her inner Ravenclaw to manifest itself this time. She would gather all the facts first before giving in to her impulses. For now, she would trust McGonagall to be safe and that all of what she had gathered was just that - rumor.

Hermione unfolded the paper and read the password etched onto it before repeating it to the gargoyle. Making her way up the stairs, she then knocked on the door before hearing a familiar, matriarchal voice call out, "You may come in."

!

As soon as Hermione entered the room, she got into an alert stance, pointing her wand at the Death Eater that was standing off to the side. She had to give credit to everyone that was involved in keeping the gossip system alive, it seemed like there was some substance to these things after all. Still, this didn't make any sense to her. If the enemy had breached Hogwarts again, then why wait for her to make an entrance? Also, above all else...

Where was McGonagall?

Imbuing her wand with magic, Hermione gave it a flick before casting a  _ **Protego**_ and cautiously stared at the nearby Death Eater. She found it strange that this one hadn't bothered to prepare or even take out their wand. Whatever the reason may be, it seemed that this one was underestimating her.

"Where's the Headmistress?" Hermione asked in a desperate tone, getting herself ready to immobilize the enemy. "I asked you where she is, you-"

"That's enough Ms. Granger," McGonagall's voice sharply cut in before she was able to finish casting the spell. Looking slightly confused, Hermione looked over at the speaker and noticed that her favorite professor was still alive, and breathing. Letting out a sigh of relief, the young woman put her wand down and placed her hand on her hips.

"You do not have to concern yourself over this one as he's a mercenary that was called here to help us with a few things. The...mask is merely a cover that he is using for safety purposes. Anyways, I called you here to go over some major plots which would directly affect you."

The disguised wizard leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms before growling low in his throat, "Thank Salazar for the strong wards in Hogwarts. I'll leave you two alone for now, but I want to redo the deal since I had no idea I'd be dealing with... her."

Hermione held her tongue and ignored the rude remark while she waited for the mercenary to leave the room. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she shook her head and said "I can't believe that you'd be hiring such a rude fellow to be helping you! Why don't you just use one of the members of the Order to come and assist you with this problem?"

"I'll tell you all I can within the allotted time period. But for now, Ms. Granger, please have a seat and listen to what I have to say."

As the witch took a seat on one of the chairs, she stared in wonder at McGonagall. She had just seen her not long ago, but the time that had elapsed between then and now seemed to have aged her favorite professor considerably. The war was definitely taxing, both physically and mentally, on many people, and it didn't help that there was no immediate end in sight.

"Professor? Is everything alright? Did something happen to Harry and Ron? Could I help you with anything?"

McGonagall let out a long, exasperated breath as she turned her attention to the young woman before responding, "There are many things that I have to share with you, including some news that I was able to receive from an informant."

Hermione watched her former Head of House take out two cups as a kettle poured hot tea into them. Giving her appreciation for the warm beverage, she gave it a small sip as she waited for more information to come towards her.

"Did you know Ms. Granger, that one of the main reasons I stayed behind and kept this school open was to give you students a place to call a safe haven? I had hoped that this sanctuary would last until the war was finished and that none of you would be exposed to any of the dangers outside. But, it seems as though I've failed in this endeavor, for I've been told that either some Death Eaters of his inner circle or even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will finally come and bring down the wards."

It was not a matter of 'if' but 'when', as she already knew that they had previously infiltrated Hogwarts. The gravity of the situation and the significance behind it quickly hit her as she stood up from the chair.

Almost as if she had used an art from the field of divination, McGonagall sadly smiled as she shook her head. "No Ms. Granger, the school will not put up any resistance to the upcoming invasion from the Dark Lord. This has already been discussed, but for the sake of all those that are involved, Hogwarts will not put up any opposition. However, that is not the cause of my consternation, as I have been assured that the children and teachers here will go relatively unharmed."

There was a moment of a peaceful lull between the two, with McGonagall spending some time sipping her tea before finally saying, "I'm sorry Ms. Granger, I truly am. I wish I could keep you in Hogwarts but..."

A spark of outrage clipped at the corner of Hermione's senses as she slammed her hands down on the table. "What? Why must I retreat? I wish to stay here and help support you! Even if we aren't going to fight, surely I should be staying here as that was the original agreement that I had with Ron and Harry. I refuse; I won't abandon you or those inside of Hogwarts. I am not going to be the only one running away from You-Know-Who."

"Please calm down," McGonagall gently said, her lips beginning to quiver. "There are so many things that have changed or become warped due to the war. I had really hoped that I could keep you sheltered until it was safe for you to go outside again. The reason why you must run from this building is because of who you are. Although some of the Order members are still operating under anonymity, the more prominent ones have had their identities discovered by the dark side."

"So then..."

The Transfiguration professor walked over to the brilliant-minded Gryffindor and wrapped her in a hug. "I am so sorry... not only did I fail Albus and all of the school, but I have also failed you. Please forgive me..."

Hermione couldn't help but shake and lightly sob into McGonagall's robes, while she tightly clutched onto her. What could she say at this point? Yes, she was frustrated at the fact that she was the one that would be retreating to safer grounds while everyone else around her would be fighting. However, realizing the painstaking lengths that she must've gone through, and sacrificed, then for all of the efforts to be in vain. It must've been equally painful for her professor to admit her failures.

After the solemn and depressing period had passed, they wiped the tears from their eyes as the elderly woman slowly detached from her student.

"Now Ms. Granger, there are many things I must fill you in before your eventual retreat. However, I do believe that we have kept the mercenary outside waiting for quite some time and if the briefing is correct, then that person will want to eat and rest before his mission. So please guide him to the kitchen and then to the temporary guest room. Once you are finished, please return to the office, and we can further discuss this situation."

Hermione simply nodded after receiving the instructions and began to leave, when she heard the former Head of Gryffindor house speak, "Oh yes, I forgot to mention that the mercenary will be the one to help keep you safe once you are outside the walls of Hogwarts."

* * *

"I heard of the circumstances that have placed your services at our disposal, and I am... grateful for it." The pause was strenuous and the giving of thanks sounded forced. "I uh... I will take you to the kitchen and ask the house elves to make some food for you if that sounds agreeable with you mister...?"

The masked mercenary's eyes were unmoving, looking straight at the speaker without betraying a hint of his emotions. It was hard to tell just what he was thinking as he stood in the dark corner of the hallway, unwilling to budge an inch.

"Listen here," Draco growled back at Hermione, his voice dissimulating that of its usual timbre and tone. "Remember that this is just a job for me. Nothing more, nothing less. The only thing I have to do is keep you alive, so piss off with that jovial attitude, princess."

Usually, she was able to brush off such rude remarks since they were petty and beneath her notice. However, for some reason, Hermione was unable to ignore the scathing tone of the mercenary. It was most likely a combination of her meeting with McGonagall, and feeling emotionally drained from the day's event, but she was not in the right state of mind to deal with this sort of attitude.

"Look, you daft pillock," Hermione irately stated back. "I don't know what your problem is, and I don't like this situation any more than you do. But if you are going to be doing this job, then it should be professional courtesy to at least be tolerable to the client, do you not think so?"

It took a while before the disguised Malfoy heir peeled himself away from the wall and grunted back, "Dragon."

"What?"

"Name. Dragon." It was curt and to the point, which Draco hoped allowed him to avoid further unnecessary interactions with the Mudblood. Shaking his head, he began to walk down the hallway.

Hermione was about to once again open her mouth in objection when she second-guessed herself and squinted in the direction the mercenary was going. She had seen him unarmed so there was no real danger to any of the students in the school. It was when she noticed him maneuvering around Hogwarts and going straight for the portrait that made her take note of this person. His fluid movements through the corridors indicated to her the familiarity that he had with the school.

"Hold on, who are you?"

Draco closed his eyes muttering, "For Salazar's sake..." before waving her off while responding, "Dragon." A sigh escaped from his lips before he started to reach into the inner pockets of his robe when he felt the tip of a wand dangerously close to his face.

"Granger..." he threateningly hissed, "What is the meaning of this?"

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Hermione said in an accusatory tone.

The blonde wizard raised his free arm in the air to indicate his position of surrender. He slowly extracted the other ligament to unveil a black card. The same ration card that he had managed to steal from the patrol officer before arriving at Hogwarts.

"What...what is that?" the witch asked as her curiosity was beginning to get the better of her. "Are you trying to pay with a credit card or something?"

Draco found the question absolutely preposterous. How could anyone survive without depending on one of these things? Easily getting frustrated by such a simple question he snapped back, "Don't tell me you don't know what a ration card is? For fuck's sake, you can't eat without having one of these things."

Hermione shook her head as she answered, "Hogwarts provides for its students just like it usually does. Well, the amount isn't the usual standard of the piles of food that we're used to, but I don't think many people have an appetite these days."

He desperately wanted her to tell him that this was all a cruel joke that the Mudblood was playing just to see his reaction. However, he could tell that she wasn't kidding, and this alarmed him. Just how sheltered and covered was she from how the world operated now? He hoped that much of this could be clarified, along with the renegotiation of the oath.

"I never signed up for this," Draco spat out as he didn't bother waiting for the vile female to open the portrait. "I'm going back to Prof- I mean McGonagall and going to talk to her about this. I was tricked."

When he started to walk away, Hermione quipped in. "Oh! I was told that she would be quite busy and wouldn't be able to take guests and visitors. She told me that if you were concerned about this deal, then to remind you that you did this from your own discernment."

The Malfoy heir gritted his teeth in frustration as he heard a hint of mockery in that statement. He knew that he had nobody else to blame except himself for this predicament. Draco had a mission to fulfill, but he would be damned if he continued to play by their rules, or anyone else's. He wasn't sure how he was going to exact his revenge just yet, but he had plenty of time during the journey to plan something out.

Draco shook his head as he ran through his Occlumency, smoothing out his shields and ebbing out any unnecessary emotions from his mind. Sharply exhaling, he calmly fixed his mask and then informed her. "I'm a bit knackered, you mind pointing me to the private quarters where I shall be resting?"

"What about your food?"

The wizard shrugged before answering, "Leave it somewhere nearby, I'll eat it after I get some sleep." He knew that if he attempted to take his meal under the wretched Muggle-born's gaze, then he would quickly lose his appetite. As Draco started to take a few steps, he suddenly found himself unable to properly move his upper body, feeling something poke his spine.

"Please don't go off on your own; you aren't allowed any free movements within the walls of Hogwarts. Just to ensure your cooperation this time, I shall be guiding you from behind, so please Mister Dragon, make haste to the guest room."

Draco couldn't help but let out a small snort when he noticed what she was trying to imply. Rolling his eyes behind the mask, he begrudgingly began to make his way towards the particular section. The school must really be low on either enrollment or qualified individuals if they let a lowly Mudblood become Head Girl. Then again, if McGonagall became Headmistress of Hogwarts, then he could see her playing favorites and allowing her prodigal student to take up the particular mantle.

The walk was silent and short, yet filled with dread and anxiety for the young witch. While the two made their way around, Hermione constantly flicked her eyes through the hallways, ensuring that the corridors would be empty of any lingering souls. Luckily for the pair, that appeared to be the case as nobody bothered to interrupt them during this small trek. Draco made the final turn and patiently waited in front of a set of drapes for the Muggleborn to unveil and open the portrait.

As Hermione made her way around the masked mercenary, she gave the disguised young man a funny look and pulled aside the covers to reveal a portrait of an ancient tome. Leaning closely to the frame, she whispered the password causing the picture to whip to the side. She then jabbed the wand at the other teenager as he stumbled into the quarters.

"The room to the left is unlocked and has a ready-made bed there. You can either use that or the sofa in the main room. I shall have one of the elves bring up the food here. And as for me..." A smirk formed at the corner of her lips as she watched the portrait between them begin to close. "I believe the Headmistress still has some business to finish with me, so I shall be quite busy until then."

"Ah, where are my manners?" Hermione stopped in her tracks and called out, "Welcome to Hogwarts, I hope you enjoy your stay here, Dragon."

"Bloody Mudblood..." was the last thing Hermione heard as the picture frame sealed itself shut.

* * *

Draco couldn't help but let out a lazy yawn while he tiredly splayed his body on the sofa. He combed his fingers through his messy, damp hair and fiddled with the wet towel. It had felt like an eternity since he last took a shower, and, Merlin, did it feel incredible. Just the sensation of the water cleansing his body, even if it was temporary, was a luxury that he could not afford. The quiet emptiness of the room, combined with the lush furniture began to lull him toward a suspension of consciousness.

**Pop!**

The half-naked wizard hurriedly scrambled to his disguise before noticing a tray of warm food appearing near the table.

"Bloody house elf..." Draco murmured as he let out a sigh. Sitting back down on a chair, he rubbed the back of his head and stared at the meal before him. It was a simple mishmash of bread, potatoes, fish, and tomato soup. He took a bite out of the bread and swirled some of the chunky, red soup on his tongue, relishing the warmth.

A shower on top of a free meal.

"They had it quite easy," Draco snorted at the passing thought of just how oblivious they were to the forsaken world.

After the meal, he would check his inventory before going into the room to get some much-needed rest. Since he didn't have his wand readily handy he would have to be cautious in safeguarding his identity; at least until he was properly equipped and ready to handle any tantrums that she might throw. He took in some starch and protein while wondering how his parents were doing; not so much his father, but his mother.

Even though Lucius had fallen from both the favor of the Dark Lord and his position of the inner circle, Draco knew that his father was at least safe inside of the wretched hellhole that was Azkaban. His mother, on the other hand, was a different story. While she wasn't a huge proponent of the pureblood movement, she did have her own set of beliefs that she firmly wanted him to carry.

The family traditions of the Ancient and Noble House of both Black and Malfoy.

Letting out a sigh, Draco erased these tiresome thoughts from his mind before he started to stuff food down his throat.

* * *

Hermione frowned when she put the book down on the desk. There were so many more questions that she had concerning the war, yet she had been dismissed earlier than she would've liked. After receiving a history lesson on what had occurred between the revival of Voldemort, his declaration of war upon the Light side, and the damage that it had done upon the magical world, she had been given some warnings on what to expect once she stepped outside.

Don't carelessly use magic.  
Don't turn your back to a stranger.  
Don't ever lose hope.  
And lastly, do trust the masked mercenary...to an extent.

None of these were expanded upon as the Headmistress was whisked away to another location, leaving the young witch to stew in her thoughts whilst studying upon the subject of Horcruxes. A twinge of anxiety knotted in the depths of her stomach. Goosebumps lightly tingled across her skin as she narrowly eyed the window. She didn't have to use magic to know that something was wrong.

" _ **Tempus.**_ " Hermione checked the time as she hurried out of the classroom. Whipping her head around, she checked to see if there was anyone else hanging around the hallways. Even as her brain was still processing this 'mysterious' force, she let herself get carried by her legs. Before she was able to realize it, her legs had instinctively taken her to the Headmistress' office.

Knocking on the door, Hermione went into the room to find her favorite professor staring out of the window.

"You feel it as well?" she asked, coming around to stand by the Headmistress' side.

"Yes," McGonagall replied. Hermione could hear the undertone or worry in her voice. The Headmistress's hands were tightly gripping the rails and her eyes were entirely focused on studying the darkened clouds. "Something is wrong here, and I am not sure what it is."

The pair of witches stood by and looked out over the field, trying to gauge what the ominous feeling of foreboding was. Both of them suddenly caught a glimpse of an incandescent sphere of light heading towards them.

"What's that?" Hermione asked in wonder as she took a few steps back, the light bounding onto the walls before bursting into a stunning doe Patronus. Blinking a few times, she wanted to ask whose this brilliant corporal animal could be when she heard McGonagall speak up.

"That is our warning." The Headmistress shut her eyes and shuddered with dismay.

"They are coming, Minerva," a familiar male voice echoed. "Make haste, for they are coming." The shimmering Patronus disappeared as fast as it had appeared, erasing almost all traces of it inside the room.

McGonagall locked eyes with Hermione and gave her a grave stare. "Listen, Ms. Granger, I'll be alerting the other professors of this news and try to keep everything under control. You on the other hand..."

Hermione's eyes grew wide as she shook her head. "I changed my mind! Let me stay and help, I don't want anyone to be left behind at Hogwarts when the Dark Lord arrives."

"Quiet, Hermione," the older witch immediately hushed her. "Don't make this harder than it already is. Please, stick to the plan and escape while you still can."

The bushy-haired female bit her lower lip as she tore her eyes away from the Headmistress. She was right; this was no time to be playing the martyr. There was too much at stake for the Light for her to be caught here at Hogwarts.

"Here, Ms. Granger, inside of this storage box you will find necessary items that will help you on this journey. Some medical potions, ration cards, and a few other trinkets that may come in handy when the appropriate time comes. I have also placed the young man's wand in here."

Putting the container to one side, she desperately reached out and hugged her mentor. Wordlessly releasing her grip on McGonagall, she then nodded before leaving the office.

* * *

**Knock knock knock**

Silence.

**Knock knock knock**

Draco opened the door to the guest room as he stared at Hermione. She looked worse for wear, emitting a disheveled and worrisome body language. Still, it wasn't any of his concern, since he was merely 'hired' to guard her. Nothing more, nothing less. Straightening himself out, he crossed his arm before asking, "Is it time?"

The witch nodded as she discarded her robe and put a loose-fitting sweater over the rest of her clothes. Taking a deep breath, she then shakily responded, "Let's go Dragon."

The disguised Malfoy let out a 'tsk' as he grabbed hold of Hermione, briefly stopping her in her tracks.

"Ow! What are you doing? We have to hurry and leave now!"

Draco shook his head as he tightened his grip and hissed at her, "Are you bloody mad? You want me to leave these wards without a wand? If you want to step foot outside in this condition, then we might as well wait for the effing Dark Lord to kill us. Because there is no way—"

"Here," Hermione said, tossing the wand at the masked male. "Now, let's go, shall we? Headmistress McGonagall outlined a secret passage for us to use so that we can escape through one of the tunnels and come out onto the village."

As the Malfoy heir followed the girl, he couldn't help but ask, "Where?"

The young witch spun around as a door magically appeared before them, giving them entrance into the Room of Requirement.

"Hogsmeade."

**[She confirmed that the two had managed to escape from the school]**


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter has been touched up here and there, hopefully it reads a bit better and the overall quality of it is at least better than the previous rendition of it. While it isn't perfect, I put some make-up on it so it can be a bit more shiner. Anyways, reviews are appreciated, so enjoy!

**[What did they witness inside of the village?]**

**Closer look:** Hermione

I'm already having second thoughts about this entire venture.

We just came out of the Room of Requirement when the mercenary decided that we would be waiting instead of starting our journey. The only explanation that I was given was that it would be safer for both of us to move when there would be a smaller risk of getting caught.

Ew, that feels cold.

It is an agreeable move to be cautious in our excursion since there were no guarantees for our safety. Although I do have to wonder, would it kill him to engage me in a simple conversation? There is a limit on how long I can keep myself occupied with these mental exercises. I can only recall so much of the theories and textbooks that I've read before indulging in such activity becomes boring even to me.

I should've brought some books with me.

Recording a journal with my mind seems like a pointless enterprise. I'm going to forget most of this anyway, so why am I still doing this? Well, there is one thing that's been bothering me following our arrival here. Honestly, I'm still baffled by our location after coming out from the tunnel of the Room of Requirement.

Wait, I did do it right, didn't I? Let me go over the steps...

I took all the right steps in making the room appear and even ensured the contents would be reflective of my desire by keeping that particular mindset. Yes, I will not begrudge the fact that we were able to escape from Hogwarts without raising any suspicions. However, the expected place of our destination was Hog's Head, not the train station.

Why did we land on the train tracks? This is what has me confounded the most.

I want to discuss this with him, or anyone else, but the problem with this lies in the fact that I doubt Dragon knew about this mysterious room. I have my suspicions of his ties with the school, and I'll be testing them out later. But, if the other party has no foreknowledge of the previously mentioned topic, then it wouldn't behoove me to bring about such a discussion.

Now that I take a better look around, the place only appears to emulate parts of the Hogsmeade train station. Perhaps I missed it due to my initial shock of landing in an area that was out of my calculations but...

Where are we?

* * *

Draco stifled a yawn and rubbed the back of his neck.

To say that he had been surprised by the appearance of the Room of Requirement would not be accurate. The young wizard recalled personally leading Umbridge there, in hopes of getting Potter and his motley crew in trouble. However, the result of them going through a passageway directly from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade was something that he could not have imagined. Still, there wouldn't be any use for him to linger on this issue, since there was no chance he would be returning to school.

Draco felt his eyes droop from the sheer boredom of the situation.

They had been searching around the train station for roughly half an hour, looking for a way out of the place. He had an inkling that there were a few security wards and guards scattered about, doing their usual night routine. Now, if he had been alone, then getting past these would not have been an issue. However, this was simply not in the realm of possibilities, not with the contract hovering over his head, threatening to eviscerate his livelihood.

Letting out a sigh, Draco leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. He had already wasted enough time getting nothing accomplished, and if there was something that he learned from his previous experience, it was to keep himself active and guarded. Even though it was a temporary stop at Hogwarts, it had quietly managed to dull the instincts that he had sharpened before the pit-stop.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, the blonde rubbed the back of his head and began planning out his next course of action. What he needed was information, and he was going to start with the Mudblood.

"Hey," Draco hesitantly called out, walking over to the aforementioned female. He noticed that she was studying a particular section of the tunnel, which he promptly ignored. "What did McGonagall tell you about this mission?"

It wasn't as though he was going into this entire ordeal blind, that was hardly the case. But he figured that there were some things that were told to her that hadn't been presented to him.

"Well..." Hermione bit her lower lips and rolled her eyes to bottom right before replying, "I'm sure McGonagall told you everything you need to know. I don't think she told me anything different from what she's told you."

The blonde forcibly bit down on his tongue, knowing fully well what was about to tumble out from his mouth. Trying to stay in character, all the while being forced to fulfill the contract obligations was going to mentally tax him for the rest of this trip. At this rate, he knew that he was going to make a mistake somewhere and have everything blow up on his face, most likely from an oversight of his own negligence.

Stepping away from the insufferable girl, Draco peeled the mask off to the side and rubbed his eyelids. He smacked his mouth together and tasted blood. Disgusting. Spitting on the ground, he felt a surge of irritation roll off his shoulder. That was twice that the lowly Mudblood had forced him to draw blood. He didn't know how or when, but he would eventually get vengeance upon her.

Quickly refreshing his Occlumency barriers, Draco went through his other options. Since she was being less than cooperative with him, he would have to tackle the next item on the agenda. The blonde made sure to look over his shoulders first before crouching down to the floor. Taking out his wand, he began tracing a few lines and figures while muttering some words under his breath.

_"Let's see...if I can remember this correctly, then the lower levels of the village have a few Death Eaters patrolling the area, but, it shouldn't be too long before they finish up and desert the area. If we can safely find a way out of here and get to Hogsmeade, then we can take that route and get to this meeting point without much of a fuss."_

Draco let out a sigh and fastened the mask over his face. It felt cumbersome and heavy against his face, but it was a necessary discomfort that he had to put up with at the moment. Since the mission was going to be over with soon enough, there was no need to make things more complicated.

Get the job finished. Seek retribution.

Now that he thought about it, the two of them had spent an ample amount of time together in school, so it would not be a surprise if she was able to pick up on his voice after a while. Grumbling under his breath, he quickly casted a spell to assist in altering his voice.

There was no need to add an unnecessary dimension to the escort mission, not with their past history and the inevitable drama that would follow. As it stood, he would ignore her to the best of his ability and hold up his end of the bargain. But that didn't mean that everything would be done in a clean manner.

 _"That's why Gryffindors are weak, everything's straightforward with this bunch. Perhaps I should remind them_ _of_ _the perils of trying to make a deal with a snake,"_ Draco thought to himself.

"Hey, Dragon," Hermione finally said, snapping the blonde out from his thoughts. "Would you be familiar with the Hogsmeade train station?"

No response.

"I wouldn't say that I'm an expert with things such as infrastructure since they aren't a main focus of any of the curriculum being taught in Hogwarts. But what I do know is that, presuming this is the same train station connected to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade...we aren't exactly inside the village."

This certainly got Draco's attention.

"I can't say for sure, but, it might have to do with where we came out from the hidden passageway," the witch began to babble. "You see, every time that room appears, the tunnel would usually be connected to this room in the Hog's Head. But for some reason we were displaced at a much further location. So, if—"

The blonde got up from the walls and shook his head before responding, "Granger, get to the point before you bore me to death."

Hermione huffed and glared at the young man. "I believe we didn't fully go through the passageway and the perceived back-end of the station is probably the continuation of said tunnel."

Draco stared at the girl for a few seconds before looking at the tracks that were extending deeper into the tunnel. Blinking a few times, the blonde shook his head before heading down into the aforementioned section. However, before he could go any further, his advancement was impeded by an invisible barrier. He tried getting through a few more times from different angles and entry points, but each of them was met by the same result – failure. Crossing his arms, he turned around to face Hermione.

"What exactly happened here?" The blonde asked in an increasingly irritated tone.

Hermione shook her head and answered, "I haven't had any time to properly research the properties of the Room of Requirement, but I would have to say that someone or something managed to interfere with the process."

"Granger," Malfoy cut her off and stamped his feet impatiently, "Get to the point already."

Letting out a sigh, she replied, "Look, all I know is that some type of rune inscription, and wards have been placed in the vicinity somewhere to make it seem as though we're in the train station."

"Why would they do that?"

Hermione once again shook her head, "I don't know...I just recognized some of the patterns that were etched onto this stone here. I do have to say, that whoever did this made quite an elaborate design just to make this whole thing appear...real."

There were many reasons why something like this would've been created, but until they were told its actual purpose, everything would be mere speculation. Not wanting to dwell on the subject any longer, Draco rubbed the back of his head before asking, "Since this is supposed to be an illusion of sorts, I'm guessing that the exit is over there?"

Getting a nod of confirmation, the wizard pointed to the dark entrance. "We've wasted enough time, let's go."

When the two finally emerged from the connected passageway, they found themselves on top of a grassy hill, just on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Normally, the view from the apex of the cliff would have been labeled as beautiful with the sight of Hogsmeade and all its surroundings being seen from the vantage point. But, the ongoing war had warped the landscape to produce a scenery that was less than pleasant.

* * *

"This...is Hogsmeade?"

Hermione stared in horror at the present state of the once great village. It was easy to discern the catastrophic battles that took place from all the wanton destruction that was on display. Taking another look at the destroyed scenery, the brunette began to run down the hill. Slightly blindsided by the girl's impulsive action, Draco cursed under his breath and stumbled upon his first step before steadying himself and following her.

Stopping just short of Hogsmeade's walls, Draco was able to grab hold of the witch's arm.

"Granger, what the bleeding hell do think you're doing?"

Forcibly pushing him away, Hermione snapped. "Is this worth it?" she asked. "All this senseless violence just to follow a stupid belief that hinges upon the fear of the old and established families. Is this desperate attempt at keeping such an archaic system alive, just so that the purebloods can continue to harbor this false sense of superiority, worth sacrificing everything?"

Again, no response.

"Tell me," Hermione said in a cold tone, "do you enjoy witnessing the world that you grew up in tethering on the brink of destruction?"

By now, Draco had walked away from the Muggle-born and was investigating the Hogsmeade outer shell. Tapping a cracked section with the back of his hand, he asked, "Think you can get up this wall?"

Hermione bit her lower lip, "I-I'm not too sure..."

Nonchalantly shrugging, Draco told her, "The nearby entrance is most likely barred with some type of security. I'll scale the wall and try to find a way for you to get in, so stay here, and wait for me to come back, alright?"

"Why can't we just go the village instead?"

She saw him stop in the midst of his preparation to climb the wall and answer, "Most established villages and cities like this, especially those with protective barriers surrounding it, usually have patrol units and security wards all around the place. Yes, it would be much easier to go around, but the risk is simply not worth it. If I was alone I might've been able to but with the contract..."

Hermione frowned as she watched the hired hand steadily walk away from her. He troubled her on two fronts. The first was his response, or lack thereof, and she didn't know what to make of it.

Did he not care for the turmoil that the country was currently going through?

She understood the position of the mercenary, as explained by McGonagall, which was neutrality and only offering their services to those that paid their fees, but the way she viewed it, this was being a coward at its finest. Instead of choosing a side, they would simply go to the highest bidder and then declare themselves a denizen of the winning side once everything was finished.

At least the Dark side had chosen something to fight for—even if it was for all the wrong reasons.

This unresponsive nature tied in with the second issue: Dragon's identity. Just when she thought she could narrow down the choices of those that the mercenary could be, his professional disregard to her views was making her rethink her options.

* * *

While climbing up the jagged, broken wall, Draco did his best to collect his composure. The temptation to blast the Mudblood in the face became too alluring for him to resist. It took everything in his willpower, and then some, to simply walk away without uttering back a single argument.

He figured that at this rate, it wouldn't be any outside influence that had the greatest potential to disrupt this mission, but rather the constant fighting between them.

Getting to the top, the young man quickly flattened his body down onto his stomach. After taking a breath, he scanned the town and took note of the different illuminated areas. There weren't enough lit buildings to help stave off the growing darkness—perfect situation that would allow the two of them to sneak in and get out without drawing much attention.

"Dragon, do you see anything up there?"

Not bothering to answer her question, Draco carefully gripped the edge before hanging off the opposite side. He then took a deep breath before uncurling his hands, letting himself drop to the ground. Upon landing on the concrete, he immediately found himself rolling on the ground.

"Ugh," the young man grunted in pain. "That could've gone a lot better...at least none of the Death Eaters were around to hear me."

Leaping back up to his feet, the wizard ducked behind a nearby building. Putting a hand on his chest, he waited for his heart to stabilize before calmly exhaling and allowing his mind to get to work. Since he had a general outline of Hogsmeade drawn up in his head, all he had to do was find an opening for the girl.

Draco undid the mask and stowed it into the robe, the cool breeze lightly brushing against his face. Calmly reaching into his pocket, he blindly groped around for a few seconds before his fingers lightly brushed over the item that he was searching for – the cigarette. Plucking it between his thumb and index finger, the young man shoved it into the corner of his mouth. The entire moment was quickly ruined when he discovered having no means of lighting it.

Grumbling at the unfortunate circumstance, he spat out the cigarette and watched it roll around the ground. Taking a deep breath, Draco took a look around before quickly dropping to the floor and picking up the discarded item. He carefully snubbed out the lit end before safely dropping it back into the inner pocket of his robe.

 _"Waste not, want not, huh? What a strange Muggle saying..."_ Draco mused to himself before getting back to the task at hand. Finding a torn-down building, he crouched down before hiding behind it. Using the leftover debris and the evening skies as a cover, the blonde carefully began to make his way through the streets. He also made sure to analyze as much of the local surveillance teams and the inner layout of the village as possible.

_"Judging from the patterns I've been able to notice, the patrol groups in this area contain either two or three Death Eaters. They also seem to be staying near the roads and that building as well."_

Clutching at the edge of the building he was hiding behind, Draco slid forward and took a better look at the infrastructure that they patrol units were tightly guarding.

_"Hm...compared to the other houses in the village, that ones much smaller than the rest. The material that's holding the foundation together looks flimsy too. I wonder if I can somehow break into it?"_

The blonde weighed his current options and chewed over his available actions. Looking over the ground, he picked up a nearby brick and gripped it in his right hand. He then waited for an incoming patrol unit to walk near his hiding location before tossing the slab to a far distance.

"Oi, rookie, did you hear that?"

The accompanying Death Eater swiveled his head around trying to locate the source of the sound. Giving a nonchalant shrug, he then answered, "It's probably nothing."

"I don't care, we have to do our due diligence just in case. That's an order."

Hearing a sigh come out from the other person, the other person curtly responded, "Right."

Draco considered the plan to be successful since he had managed to isolate the nearby Death Eater. Sneaking up behind the lone individual, the blonde swiftly wrapped his right arm around the guard's neck while covering the mouth with the other. He held the Death Eater in the chokehold for a few more seconds until he felt the body become limp. Dropping the guard, he quickly swapped robes and transferred his inventory before walking out into the open.

Even if his physical description didn't match the previous robe's owner, he figured that none of them really knew each other. Plus, the shroud of darkness was providing an extra source of camouflage for the disguise.

Draco made sure to stiffen his stance and pull down his hood, all in an effort to mimic the patrollers. In terms of priority, he knew what he had to do, however, the prospect of leaving an unknown area unexplored, especially one that was close by, did not sit well with him. Walking over to the marked building, the wizard reached out and took hold of the door knob.

It was locked.

"Hey!"

The young man blinked as he turned around to face the speaker.

"For Merlin's sake, I know what the captain said, but stop checking that door, we already confirmed it being locked like a million times already. The coast is clear, let's go check the next sector."

While it might've been easier for him to knock this one out and go back into hiding, he was bereft of important information. This would be an excellent opportunity for him to gather any intelligence while continuing to scope the village. If push came to shove and he was on the verge of getting caught imitating the downed Death Eater, he could always retreat to the background again.

With his mind firmly made up, he obediently followed along while letting the other person do all the talking. Draco almost came to regret this decision as the topics ranged from borderline useless to being outright inane. Luckily, his sanity and patience were spared from further torture when they passed through a burned down building.

"Ah, right! You weren't here with us when this happened, but you see that part of the wall over there?"

Draco traced his eyes around the Hogmeade borders and easily noticed an area that was covered by some wooden planks. Curious as to the reason why this was brought up, he tilted his head before nodding in confirmation.

"That's the hole that those bloody Evolved used to penetrate Hogsmeade."

Draco's altered voice matched the man's he'd knocked out well enough, so he chanced speaking so as to not seem suspicious, "Is it just covered with-?"

"Loose material? Yeah. Of course, there's always someone standing guard at that-" The man paused and squinted at the apparently abandoned post.

The speaker scratched his head while searching around for the aforementioned guard. Either the man was wildly hallucinating, or this Death Eater was risking the entirety of all those barricaded inside of the village by abandoning the post.

"Wait, where's the damn pillock that was supposed to be stationed here?"

"Should we go look?" Draco asked, trying his best to stay in character.

"No, you stay here and keep watch, alright? I'll go do a status check, there might be a report about this somewhere."

Draco watched the higher ranking Death Eater walk away from the improvised barricade. He stood still for a second, wondering if this could be some sort of test, or a trap. This was much too convenient and easy for his taste.

Need to find an alternative entrance? Check.

Be left alone so that he could sneak Granger in undetected? Done.

Have everything completed without raising any suspicions or detections? Odd.

This last item on the list was the one that worried him the most, since things never went this smoothly. He had learned early on, both from his years in Slytherin and tangling with Potter, to always be skeptical of every outcome until the last possible second. Even if everything seemed to be running in accordance to schedule, there was always the chance of a mishap – or Potter and his ilk interfering in his business.

Draco would, at least for now, proceed, but he would do so with extreme caution. Walking over to the poorly mended wall, the young wizard gave it a few taps with his hand. He wasn't a carpenter by any stretch of the imagination, his snobbish upbringing and surroundings looking down upon those that dirtied their hands. However, even he was able to ascertain that the patchwork job was done without much thought put into it.

_"I'm sure they at least put enough work into it so that I won't be able to kick it down."_

He was completely wrong in his assumption.

Draco swiftly thrust his foot at the wooden planks, which resulted in his leg shooting straight out through to the other side. He paused for a moment, wondering if the loud noise that he had manufactured would alert any nearby Death Eater.

His luck was still intact.

Draco briefly wondered if these fortunate turns of events were being set up so that he would fail that much harder in the future. Not wanting to dwell on such speculations, he stuffed the thought deep into the recesses of his mind. Destroying the rest of the makeshift wall, he then walked past the outer shell and was greeted by the outdoors.

_"Hm, maybe I should've just left some parts of this intact so that I could cover it back up. Well, what's done is done, I have to hurry and find that Mudblood and get back before that captain person returns."_

With the route secured, he began to walk towards where he last left the witch. He grimaced while put on the mask. Now that Draco thought about it, even though he had told her to wait for his return, he highly doubted that she would listen to him. Letting out a sigh, he could only hope that she was still right where he left her.

**[She let out a small sigh before telling me that Draco went to go look for Hermione]**

* * *

Hermione watched the mercenary rudely ignore her and disappear off into the depths of Hogsmeade. She folded her arms against her chest and stared off into the sunset, feeling the cool breeze brush against her hair. Perhaps Dragon was used to having subservient people around him and having them obey his commands. Maybe the witches in his life were the type that waited for things to be done for them.

Surveying the desolated land, the witch let out a sigh and shook her head. While the landscape of Britain was going through such destructive changes, she had been wistfully ignorant of the entire situation. She hated to admit it, but if the school invasion had never occurred, then she would have been blissfully insensible of the conditions that the war was creating.

Hermione felt the cool air brush against the side of her head, lightly sweeping her bangs to the side. A small smile graced her face. It would be unfortunate for the hireling, but he would have to learn that this witch did not like to approach life in a passive manner. Instead of sitting on her hand and letting the mercenary do all the work, she was going to make some contributions as well.

She followed the circular path of the wall, tracing her fingers along the cold surface. The night was oddly void of any noise that indicated the usual melodies of life, replaced in its stead by a hoot of a singular owl. Even if this was just but a microcosm of the war's devastation, she now had a feel for the utter despair that the victims were experiencing.

Hermione stopped herself when she came to the Hogsmeade entrance. A frown entered her face after she realized that the masked man was correct in his assumption. The large front gates to the village were closed while being heavily barred and bolted from the inside. She had almost overlooked the wards that were placed on the outer edges of the doorway. So even if she managed to overcome the obstacles that were obstructing the gate, there was no telling how the wards would react.

Sighing once again, she discarded the idea of going through the front gate and figured that she had wasted enough time. Slightly disappointed with her lack of success, she began the trek back to the waiting spot. However, her venture was short lived when she heard hints of agonizing pain off by the dark woods.

Hermione cautiously walked over to the source of the voice.

"Ugh... h-hurts...w-why me..."

Hermione's natural desire to assist those in need quickly began to surface, as she started to approach the sick sounding individual. Her interest in the matter decreased when she took note of the person's garments, which indicated the person being part of the Dark side. Slowing herself down, she hid behind a nearby tree and watched the Death Eater with a sense of morbid curiosity.

The Death Eater was hunched over near a tree, violently shivering and rocking while holding the base of their left arm. Hermione bit her lower lip as the quandary was upsetting the balance of her sensibility.

What was the right thing to do in this situation?

The aforementioned person was an enemy that belonged to the other side and would have no hesitation in murdering her if they were to ever meet on the battlefield. Heck, forget the war, just from the status of her blood they would outright kill her without second thought. Everything about the war should be straightforward: black and white, dark versus light. This should not even be an issue for her since it was clear which side she was fighting for.

However, that was the source of her inner turmoil. Should she ignore those that needed assistance, even if they were considered the enemies? Would she be considered a traitor if she helped an ailing Death Eater? There were so many other questions that were muddling her mind. None of this had ever cropped up when she was running around with Harry and Ron, but now that she was essentially alone, she was being exposed to the raw realities of the brutal war.

Still, at the end of the day, they were all human beings, and they all depended on one another to uphold the standards of society. To forego this very fact would not make them any better than menial, mindless creatures.

"Gah...stop! I-I didn't know...please h-have mercy..."

It was a terrible sight to behold as the lonely Death Eater suddenly collapsed to the floor and vomited a thick black liquid. Afterward, he unfurled the sleeves of the robe, exposing the insignia of those that followed Voldemort—the Dark Dark. The mark itself was giving off a dark purple glow but did not appear to be radiating magic.

Hermione couldn't help but have her inquisitive mind run down some hypotheses and theories on what she was currently witnessing. From her previous Intel and research of the Dark Mark, she knew that only certain inner members were given the 'honor' of such branding. There was also the matter of its usage and how it normally reacts. However, it would seem as though everything she knew about the Mark was totally being negated by the scene in front of her.

Was the Dark Mark given to anyone now? Was it altered to give it different functions? Could that even be the genuine article? There was no possible way for her to answer any of these questions without doing another in depth study of the Mark.

Any possibility of her making a decision was taken away when the Death Eater suddenly stopped shaking and slowly rose to his feet. Covering the still-glowing mark, he steadily began to walk back towards the village. Not seeing any other available option, Hermione decided to follow the person in hopes of both finding a different entryway and an opportunity to further investigate the new Dark Mark.

Just to be safe, the brunette made sure to keep a fair distance between herself and the individual that she was tailing. She had a hunch that the man's discomfort from the strange condition would distract him from being able to give proper attention to his environment. Regardless, she decided to throw caution to the wind and followed through whenever there were enough trees between them.

Eventually, Hermione saw the Death Eater stop in front of a wall, give it a few taps, then jump straight into it. Approaching the same section, the witch reached out and touched the solid base of the outer fence. She was surprised at having discovering that such an intricate design had been plotted in the area. If her conjecture held true, then the core magic that held this together was essentially the same as the one from platform nine and three-quarters.

Closing her eyes, the young woman took a deep breath as she emulated the movements from the previous Death Eater. It was just but a brief moment for her to switch from the outside to the inner walls of Hogsmeade. However, the aftermath of the instantaneous warping had left her feeling a bit disoriented and queasy.

_"That definitely wasn't the same, in fact it felt like I just did a Side-Along-Apparition, but with unknown coordinates to the location, the caster being very sloppy with the entire procedure, and then almost botching the landing."_

Holding her stomach with the left arm, Hermione closed her eyes and took a few seconds to regain her balance. When the orientation of the room stopped spinning for her, she opened her eyes and immediately went to investigating her surroundings. The inspection was short lived since she had quickly come to a realization of where she was. But this brought about a whole new set of questions that she knew would continuously plague her.

_"I'm at the Hog's Head inn, more specifically, it's where I expected Dragon and I to land after going through the Room of Requirement. For some reason, the secret passageway got transferred and connected to a different part of Hogsmeade. I'm definitely going to do further research on this after the war is finished."_

Mentally adding the task to her growing list, Hermione rubbed her eyes and berated herself. She had almost forgotten the initial reason in following the Death Eater through the portal-like entrance. Having accomplished the primary goal of infiltrating the village, she walked over to the door to find it unlocked. Rather than going back to the secret passageway, she decided to explore Hogsmeade for a bit.

The first thing she noticed when she walked out of the tavern was that the streets were pitch black. It was incredibly difficult to see anything in front of her, with the only hints of illumination hanging from a few selected buildings.

Using her memory of the village as a map, she carefully guided herself to the first available light source. But, as soon as her perception of the scenery became clearer, she felt someone grab the back of her hair.

"Well, well, well—what do we have here?" a low scraggly voice sneered as a Death Eater came into view. "How did such a pretty little thing like you wander into our territory, hm?"

Hermione cursed at her own naïveté. She should've been more careful and avoided going directly to the light. But, considering just how hard it was to even see a few yards without assistance, she had believed that the shroud of darkness would provide enough of a cover for her.

Of course, there would be guards stationed around the village.

Luckily for her, this one appeared to be dimwitted and without any nearby help. All she had to do was take out her wand, stun him, and then get away before anyone noticed it.

"Hey Lyra! I caught this one stumbling around here!"

Much to Hermione's chagrin, her chance to escape vanished when the guard's partner came out from behind them. Still, the appearance of another Death Eater would not necessarily mean that she had become their prisoner. It just meant that-

"How many times do I have to tell you not to use my name? We're part of the Death Eaters now, act like an anonymous soldier for once. Also, why are you holding her down from the hair?"

The one called Lyra seemed to be the smarter one between the two and was female to boot. A small smirk started to form at the corner of Hermione's lips as it reminded her too much of the dynamic that existed between her, Harry, and Ron. All they needed was a third member to be added, and it would essentially be the 'dark' version of them.

"Make sure you keep her incapacitated by pinning her wrists together behind the back. Just remember that a low probability means that it's not zero, got it? Also, where is Third Silver? Did he not say that he was using the restroom? Is he not back yet?"

"Third Silver...you mean Adrian?"

Hermione was thankful for the blinding darkness as it hid the smile that was currently gracing her face. She was sure that if neither of them were forced to choose a side, then they would have become fast friends, either that or great rivals. It was saddening to note that she would be unable to further pursue any kind of relationship with the Death Eater named Lyra.

Perhaps if both of them survived the war, then she would look into befriending this person. For now, they were enemies, and she had to find a way to liberate herself. Lightly struggling against the new bonds that were placed around her wrist, the bushy-haired witch grimaced when she felt her captive swat her head.

"Hey! Don't think I don't know your trying to pull," the Death Eater grunted as he pulled against her restraints. "Don't even think about it, yeah?"

He then spat on the floor before continuing to speak, "Now see here missy, I know that we can't be using our spells around here, at least not freely anyway. But these ropes are mighty swell in holding you down, yeah?"

Hermione's ears perked up when she heard the Death Eater make mention of not being able to use magic. As far as she knew, McGonagall only gave her a warning not to wield it during the trip. No rhyme or reason had been given as it was presumed that the trip would be short enough not to raise concerns over the matter. Plus, if she did get into trouble, then the hired wand was supposed to aid her.

Speaking of the mercenary, she wondered just how incensed he would be to find her missing once he returned from trying to discover an alternative route. She supposed that she could regret the decision in trying to further explore the village. However, this would not be the appropriate time to be mulling over the results, but rather obtaining her freedom.

"So tell me," Hermione said in a tone barely above a whisper. "With all these impressive wards you guys installed all around the village, why can't you freely use magic?"

She was both fishing for information while trying to stall for time in hopes of finding a viable means of escaping.

"Well, as ya know, the Evolved love ta hunt in pack and group, with lots and lots o' magic in places, yeah?"

"Seamus...?" Hermione caught herself saying as the speaker began the explanation. The accent was similar, but the tonality was a lot deeper, plus she had just left him back at Hogwarts. Speaking of the school, she wondered how everyone was doing? She shook her head and turned her attention back to the Death Eater.

"Well, it turns out that the wards ain't good enough ta hold a group of 'em back, ya know? So rather than risk 'em coming to us, we just keep a low enough profile and have all of our spells down to a minimum, right Lyra?"

 _"That's an awful lot of information that he divulged to me. I'm surprised that he's given me so much information without any consequence from the others. Unless he believes that this isn't anything important to withhold? And what was it he said, the Evolved?"_ Hermione thought to herself. Looking over to the female Death Eater, she swore that even with the mask on, she could see the scowl on her face.

"Shut it you fool, it's bad enough that I'm stuck here with you babbling with the prisoner and answering her questions unnecessarily, but Third Silver seems to also delight upon practicing insolence, rather than obey simple orders from the captain."

Luck was not on the girl's side as another Death Eater seemingly popped out from the corner. The trend of the growing numbers of gathering guards began to alarm her. From the way things looked, she wouldn't have to be worried about the success rate of her escape plans, but rather surviving an ordeal of being held hostage by the dark.

No, that absolutely could not be allowed to happen. Under no circumstance would she concede to being held in captivity by the Dark Lord and his lowly cronies. Still, her steeled conviction would all be for naught if she was unable to do something about her unfortunate circumstance.

"Third Silver, I know you were given permission to use the bathroom, but did you lock the door to the access waypoint after using it? Also, were you not told to report back to me when you were done? Where did you go afterward?"

The one that was holding onto Hermione rubbed the back of his head before quipping, "Come now Lyra, cut the guy some slack will ya? He had the...what ya call it? Arm fire or something? So he was real safe, ya know?"

"First of all, it's firearm you twit," Lyra snapped back. "Secondly, there's a reason why rules and protocols exist, and breaking them serves us no real purpose except to hinder our ability to survive within the walls of this forsaken village!"

Hermione squinted her eyes toward the one called Third Silver and chewed on her lips for a few seconds. The person definitely appeared familiar to her, yet there wasn't a name or value attached to this individual. Realization hit her once she recognized that it was the same one that she had found hurling out near the trees. Although she was still disgusted by the memory, curiosity over the Mark and the person's condition superseded the former. The timing for her question never came when another Death Eater walked up to them.

"Oh! Captain, sir! Silver unit one-three-five reporting for duty," Lyra said bowing to the person while straightening her back and standing at attention. The other two guards emulated her actions.

The brunette saw the one labeled captain stare at her for a few seconds before looking back at the other soldiers. She found it incredibly vexing with doubt beginning to creep into her mind. Did his eyes latch onto her because he was able to distinguish her identity? Worse, did he have some sort of malicious intentions forming in his mind?

"Captain?" Lyra repeated. "Has there been news from the superiors?"

Even though Hermione was surrounded by the enemy, she couldn't help but feel something off about the one labeled captain. Her suspicions were only further confirmed by the way the current speaker was reacting.

"Are you alright sir? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No," the captain finally responded in an odd, low gravelly sounding voice. "Leave the hostage here and return to your posts. Immediately."

Hermione could tell that Lyra wanted to oppose the command, but rather than articulate it, she merely nodded before following the orders. After getting roughly shoved into the waiting hands of the captain, the rest of the members quickly dispersed and began to return to their designated post.

The two walked in silence before the lone Death Eater pushed Hermione against a building. For a moment fears for the worst began to creep into her mind.

"Why the hell are you here?!"

Hermione opened her mouth then promptly closed it and blinked a few times. She didn't know how, but it seemed like Dragon was quite a competent mercenary since he was able to rescue her without causing a single ounce of trouble. Perhaps McGonagall's faith in this one wasn't unwarranted after all.

"I got caught by the Death Eaters," she deadpanned once she was able to regain her wit. The brunette wasn't going to admit it, but she was grateful for the relief that flooded her once she realized who the captain was.

"You gobby little shite, I mean, why the fuck were you in position to get caught in the first place?"

Hermione shook her head, not feeling up to keeping pace with the caustic argument. Not only were her wrists still bound, but she was also growing tired of the trip. All she wanted to do now was meet up with the Order and take a long nap.

"Look, I'm sorry alright? It's just that I saw a sickly Death Eater at the outskirts of town and then became curious at the odd behavior of the Dark Mark. One thing led to another, and I somehow ended up following him through a secret passageway straight into the inn."

She heard the other person slam his hand onto the nearby wall, "Your safety is my responsibility, and I will not risk the wrath of the Order just because you decided to satisfy your Gryffindorish whims. So when I tell you to..."

An awkward pause came between the two, with the sound of their breaths being the sole sounds to be heard. Hermione was unable to understand this sudden moment of hesitation from Dragon. It was still too dark for her to see anything clearly, but she was able to tell that something was definitely bothering him.

"Dragon, is something-"

* * *

"Out of all the stupid things!" Draco mumbled under his breath. When he initially went to go find the Mudblood, she was nowhere to be found. There were no signs of where she might've disappeared to, and on top of that, he had the difficult task of returning to the heavily guarded village and act like nothing had happened.

He had to do all this within a very short time constraint. The only thing he could go by was the fact that there weren't any signs of a struggle anywhere. This meant that she was being a typical Gryffindor and had went off into Hogsmeade by herself. He really hoped that he could reach her before things became too hectic.

**[Draco went back to Hogsmeade...he then...]**

Of all the luck, he had to find her captured by a group of Death Eaters. Still, he was fortunate in the fact that they believed everything they were told and didn't question a single command they were told. "We need to get out of here, now," Draco said in a resolute voice, untying the girl's wrists. Shaking his head, the Malfoy heir added, "There's no time for this, we have to leave before the place gets overrun by the Evolved"

Once again, her knowledge, or lack thereof, was apparent in situations like this, which gave her no choice but to obediently follow directions. The pair had not gone very far when they heard a bloodcurdling scream from within their proximity.

"Alright, that's our cue to go in the opposite direction and avoid the place where the scream came from Granger. Granger...?"

Draco looked over his shoulder and saw the reason why he was not getting a response back from the female – she was gone. Whipping his head back around, he saw a familiar silhouette having already gone a good distance ahead of him. He had no idea what was going through the girl's head, but he was not about to become a Squib due to the girl's reckless behavior.

Cursing inwardly at himself for both accepting the mission and taking the damning oath, the blonde hurried over to Hermione.

"You bloody twat, what did we just talk about a few seconds ago? I told you that we have to leave right now!"

Instead of the expected curt apology that was usually followed by a sarcastic comment of some sort, all Hermione did was silently point. Draco couldn't help but swing his attention toward the location.

The Death Eater named Lyra had been holding the body of Third Silver while he went through another violent bout of intractable shaking. He was also letting out low moans that were more akin to a dying animal rather than a human. Then, everything changed in an instant.

The sickly Death Eater collapsed to the floor, causing him to stop his groaning. This in turn caused Lyra to check on her fallen comrade while the third person of the group suddenly dashed up to her and started to pull on her.

"L-Lyra! W-we have ta get out! C'mon! I-I've seen something like this before, and it ain't pretty. Just leave him, 'cause if we don't leave now, then we're gonna die Lyra!"

"What? I can't just do that! We have to take him to a mediwitch to check his conditi-oof!"

It happened too fast for anyone to react in time. The hooded figure that had fainted suddenly rose to his feet and thrust his left arm out, firmly taking hold of Lyra by the neck. Then in one fell swoop the revived Death Eater threw the female Death Eater down to the hard concrete floor.

_Crack!_

The unadulterated sound of flesh meeting hardened cement brutally rang in the air.

"Aaaaah!"

The remaining sane and conscious Death Eater screamed in terror, immediately running away from the horrible scene. Ignoring the fleeing person, the rejuvenated individual looked back at the unconscious woman and stopped.

"H-hungry...feed..."

It was then the black robes slipped off, revealing just about the entirety of his body. One of the major things that were noticeable on the individual was that he was completely pale. There were also long, thick veins that visibly ran all across his body, with outlines of his ribs awkwardly showing on his torso. His face also appeared to have lost much of its humanoid characteristics, with pupils missing from both of his eyes and disgusting foam that was dripping from its lower jaw.

Despite all these changes, the most glaring one had to do with the Dark Mark. The usual insignia of the complete Dark Mark was a skull with a long snake slithering out from the mouth. Strangely enough, the one that was shown here had the snake swallowing the skull. Not only that, but the contours of the emblem were glowing yellow while the inside was shaded with that of a teal color.

* * *

Hermione couldn't stand to watch any longer as she gripped the base of her wand and was prepared to jump in front of the transforming Death Eater. Being on alert this time around, the masked blonde grabbed hold of the witch before she was able to fulfill the Gryffindor stereotype.

"What in the name of Merlin's saggy tits are you thinking? Did hanging around with Pothead and the Weasel really make you become this barmy?"

There was something awfully familiar about the way that the derogatory comments were framed within the insult. Still, she didn't bother pursuing this since there was a much more pressing issue at hand. Doing her best to swat the other person's arm away from her, she hissed back, "Why are you stopping me from saving her? Do you really only take action when you get paid to do so? If so, then you're a completely despicable person, Dragon!"

Angrily yanking the witch down, he spat out, "You really are lacking in common sense, aren't you Granger? I told you, my job was to get you safely to the meeting point so that I could transfer you over to the Order member. Also, at this point magic doesn't affect it at all, unless you can cast a killing curse that's strong enough to penetrate a troll's skin. It's far too gone and has pretty much become one of those things we call the Evolved."

"The Evolved...?" Hermione repeated back in a softer tone.

"Yeah," Draco nodded and discreetly looked back at the thing that was now called the Evolved. A shudder ran down the core of his spine with the remembrance of his past encounters with the creatures flashing before him.

"Unless we have this powerful artifact called a firearm, there's no possible way for us to do anything about the Evolved. Now come on, if we stay here any longer, then we'll just become like Muggles in a Death Eater raid."

"Wait, you said firearms, right? Dragon, wouldn't you rather be well equipped, just in case of emergencies where neither of us could avoid an encounter with an Evolved? Well, if I can remember their conversation, then I do believe that the transmogrified being had the item on him. But, if he were like every other Death Eater then..."

Draco sighed as he knew where her train of thought was leading to. Slinging his left hand onto his right shoulder, he swung his right arm in a circular motion while cracking the tense muscles in his neck.

"I don't know what you're planning Mudblood, but don't you dare step out of line this time, got it?"

Before the conversation developed any further, the transformed Death Eater went right back to work. Stretching its left arm out, the pale creature picked Lyra up by her head and dangled her unconscious body in the air. Unfortunately for the imprisoned female, she had taken this exact moment to become responsive again.

"Nggh...huh? What? I-I-I-I ah...m-my h-h-h-h-h-h-he-ad h-urrrrrrrts..." Lyra slurred out the last word before slumping back down once again. The Evolved did not appear to be deterred in the slightest by its victim awakening as it continued to squeeze her head. As soon as she became frigid, the Dark Mark began to unceremoniously blink in a slow and controlled succession. Once the insignia returned to its core colors, the pale creature carelessly dumped the body onto the ground.

The Evolved wasn't finished just yet. Lifting its left arm into the air, it balled its hand into a tight fist before jamming it straight down Lyra's mouth. After leaving it in for a few seconds, the pale creature finally appeared to be satisfied. Slipping its arm out from the disheveled corpse, the transformed person finally walked away.

"I'll be right back; I'll just do a quick check and return, alright?"

Hermione nodded as she released the breath that she hadn't known she was holding. She couldn't help but fall to the floor and shakily lean against nearby debris. After witnessing something so grotesque unfold before her eyes, her mentality and fatigue were rapidly coming to a climax. But, she could not show weakness now since admitting to her own condition would only bring her own ruin. She would have to do her best to control her growing impulses, at least until she reached the next hideout.

* * *

Draco, on the other hand, was busy scavenging through the discarded robe and the female Death Eater's body. He had managed to find an extra set of ration cards, along with a sleek, black hand cannon. Taking a peek at the end of the barrel, he randomly aimed it at a wall before pulling the trigger.

_Click click click_

"Worthless thing's probably broken," Draco muttered to himself and proceeded to discard the item until he was stopped by the witch.

"Oh, that's the firearm huh?" Hermione said as she tilted her head and examined it a bit closer. Draco couldn't help but blink a few times as he saw the garment that she had decided to don. He was not going to loudly admit it, but he had to give her, begrudgingly, some points for adapting to their current predicament. She had taken the dead Death Eater's robe and placed it over herself.

"Yeah, it's a gun alright. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I believe I've seen and read enough about them to know how to operate, at least on a very basic, fundamental level."

The masked blonde blinked a few times and then shook his head while mumbling something incoherent. Ignoring the inaudible insult, Hermione quickly examined the gun herself before giving him a quick guide on the mechanism behind the firearm.

**[It was here that she had a slightly panicked look on her face while informing me that they collected their gatherings and began to run away]**

Draco slowed himself down to match Hermione's pace before pushing her off to the side. Looking over his shoulder, he then dashed around the corner and dove underneath a pile of rubble. Feeling a tickle at the back of his throat, he quickly covered his mouth to block any chances of his cough from becoming audible.

"Where did those intruders go?!"

"You, stay here and check the area, the two of us will go on ahead and give the rest back-up against the rampaging Evolved. Remember, even with the anti-Apparition wards and the temporary isolation debuffs, using any kind of magic will only attract the Evolved to your location."

Doing his best to protect his face from the falling detritus, Draco began to slowly crawl out from his current position. Just when he was starting to gain some ground, he heard the lone Death Eater yell.

"You're one of the intruders aren't you? Don't move, or I'll kill you."

Draco felt his blood freeze for a second, wondering just how the guard had been able to discover him so quickly. This notion was dismissed when he heard a feminine voice answer back. Grumbling to himself over this mishap, he quietly rolled out from the collected debris and leaned against a destroyed building. Making his way to the edge, he then cautiously poked his head out and looked toward the direction where the conversation was occurring.

"You dare point that wand in my direction and label me an intruder?" Hermione responded, holding her head up in the air while giving off a sense of aristocracy.

"Uh...huh? But why were you..."

While the lone Death Eater was distracted in obtaining more information from the witch, Draco had taken the time sneak up behind the person. As soon as he was in position, he leaped forward and tightly wrapped one arm around the guard's neck while positioning the other on top of his face, effectively blocking his nostrils and mouth. The guard flailed around for a brief moment before his movements ceased struggling.

Draco retrieved another ration card from the body before casually dropping the inanimate guard onto the ground. Hermione bit her lower lip as she shook her head before asking,

"Dragon, did you have to kill him? Couldn't you have just knocked him unconscious?"

Draco looked straight at the speaker before responding, "My job is to keep you safe Granger, at least until we reach the designated spot. Keeping the enemy alive means that there's a likely chance for them to come back and turn everything into utter shambles." Giving a slight pause, he then added, "But no, he's not dead."

Not wanting to waste any more time, the pair began to head for the exit again. It was a tricky situation to traverse through since the village was now on high alert. There were numerous times when they were forced to duck behind covers or take a detour from their route. Their troubles did not stop when they had reached the exit.

"This is complete bullocks," Draco hissed under his mask, observing the multiple units that were patrolling the area. Here they were, just one exit away from their destination, yet it felt completely out of reach.

"Dragon," the bushy-haired witch murmured, poking him on the shoulders. "I'll say this quick since we don't have much time. Let's just get out of Hogsmeade for now and try again tomorrow, after all the commotion has died down?"

"Hey! Look, over there! I see something!"

Both Draco and Hermione jumped to their feet and ran out from where they were hiding.

"I think those were the intruders! Don't let them escape, after them!"

While the two were chased through the dark alleyways of the village, minor spells began to fly in their direction. Confused by the sudden usage of magic, Hermione lost her balance for a second, which threatened to have her topple over and land flat on the floor. Luckily for her, Draco was close enough to scoop her up from behind, helping her quickly regain her balance.

They were able to get right back on track without the enemy gaining too much on them. Making a sharp turn at the corner, the pair spotted an empty building and immediately went inside of it. Both of them held their breath as they heard sounds of footsteps going straight past them. However, they knew that it was only a matter of time before the Death Eaters began their search of the adjoining infrastructures.

Going over to the opposite side of the building, Draco waved her over and began to walk across the backyard. He was only able to take a few steps before the path in front of him became impossible to traverse. There was some type of large ditch that unequivocally separated his side from the rest of Hogsmeade. Before he could make sense of what the gigantic hole was for, he felt someone push him from the back.

A sense of panic hurriedly filled Draco when he saw himself falling straight into the empty ditch. Not thinking about his actions, he attempted to latch onto the nearest thing to help him out of this situation. Unfortunately, this turned out to be an equally confused and shrieking Hermione, which made her tumble down with the falling mercenary.

"Fuck...I guess you Mudbloods are just as clumsy as your blood status indicates."

Just when Hermione was about to retort, she decided to hold herself back as both of them heard a Death Eater loudly shout.

"Hey! I think I heard something down at the water tunnel!"

"I have an idea, just place your _ **Lumos**_  down there, and let's see if we can see what caused that noise. No need to risk going down there if it's one of those magic-sucking creatures."

Promptly getting back on their feet, the duo started to move again. At this point, they had no clue where they were heading, but it was apparent to both of them that they could not afford to stay exposed in open space.

The two of them did their best to avoid being caught by the searching spotlight. They made sure to press their backs against the wall and only advanced when the spell's attention was shifted to another direction.

"Are you sure you heard something? I don't see anything down here!"

When the pair reached the end of the irrigation tunnel, all they saw was a rundown shack. Not bothering to wait, Draco pointed to the tiny building as he said in a whisper.

"Granger, go check to see what's inside and wait for me there. I'm going to see if there's anything we can use to get us out of here. So don't move, alright?"

Hermione bit her lower lip and decided to listen to the directions that were given to her. She knew that this was not the right time or place to be quarreling with the mercenary. Walking over to the door, the witch found no locks placed upon it. Swinging it open, she stepped inside and took a look around the shack.

It was a dusty tool shed, with most of the items seemingly untouched for what appeared to be ages. Identifying an unused candle on the desk, she picked it up and stared at it for a few seconds. Taking out her wand, she then cast a small spell to light the tip of the wax stick.

Even though the unwritten agreement for all the inhabitants of the magical world was not to use magic, for some odd reason she found these particular Death Eaters contradicting that very rule. She had a feeling that it had something to do with the wards that they had used in response to the sighting of the Evolved, but without a clear explanation she was unable to confirm her suspicions.

Hermione let out a sigh as she stared off at the window. Was this not supposed to be a simple trip, one where she went from the school to the hideout? Why did things have to go horribly wrong? She supposed that she could thank her lucky stars that she was still alive and in one piece.

Hermione's musings were interrupted by the sudden entrance of the hired wand. Instead of greeting her, the young man went straight for the table and splayed a map on top of it. Squinting at the scroll, he then waved her over.

"Granger, bring that light over here so that I can see this thing better."

It was a simple procedure, at least compared to all of the events that had transpired between them. However, after transferring ownership of the candle over to blonde wizard, Hermione stood frozen on the spot. For a second, she did not know how to react or respond, chalking up her wild imagination to fatigue.

When she rubbed her eyes and looked at the mercenary's face again, there was no doubt that her mind was not playing any tricks on her. Then in a flash, all of the past emotions that she had repressed after the passing of the former Headmaster began to return with a vicious twist of vengeance.

Draco Malfoy.

Out of all the students, this one was the reason that the Death Eaters had been able to invade Hogwarts.

It was him that led to the death of Albus Dumbledore, one of the only wizards that still made Voldemort fear mortality.

He was also the bane of her existence and had made it his life mission to constantly remind her of her inferiority within the magical community.

Draco fuckin' Malfoy.

Hermione slowly reached into the robe and tightly gripped her wand.


	3. 3

**[If they didn't escape from the village the conventional way, where did they go?]**

Draco studied the map for a few more minutes. Time was at a premium and if he wasn't able to ascertain anything new from the parchment, then there would be little to no choice in where they would have to go next.

_"The village is on lockdown and the closest exit to the meeting point will most likely be heavily guarded. Unless there's some sort of hidden passageway that Granger has placed under a Fidelius, the only route I can think of is the sewers that I just found."_

Scratching his blonde hair, Draco let out an exasperated sigh and frowned. For Merlin's sake, the thought of even setting foot into the disgusting gutters made his skin crawl. Not only would it be highly unsanitary, but they would also be delving into unknown territory. If anything, he would prefer to stay on grounds that he recognized. Even if there were hostiles crawling around everywhere, he would be able to plan, react and adjust accordingly.

Draco rubbed the back of his neck and stretched his right arm into the air. It had been a long day but he couldn't rest just yet. He still had a mission to complete, which, fortunately for him, would soon be finished. Letting out a large yawn, he felt some of the pent up pressure being released from his body. The entire day had spiraled into one big clusterfuck of a mess, taxing him both physically and mentally.

"Focus on isolating the Evolved and contain it from rampaging any further," a voice outside the shed commanded.

Snapping his attention back to the task at hand, Draco shook his head and slammed his hand against the table. That voice he had just heard was a little too close for comfort. If he really couldn't find an alternative path soon, then there was no other remaining option for them to follow.

Slinging his left hand up to his right shoulder, Draco swung his head around while rotating his arm. No matter how many times he traced the map of Hogsmeade, he was unable to locate a different route. He didn't want to do it, but desperate times called for desperate situations.

"Hey Granger," Draco called out, waving his arm forward, "Mind coming to take a look at this? I think a fresh set of eyes would be helpful here-"

" _EXPELLIARMUS!_ " a female voice screamed out, making the blond-haired wizard momentarily throw his arms into the air.

" _DEPULSO_!" Hermione followed up the disarming charm with a banishing one, effectively making him fly straight across the room.

Draco's body loudly slammed onto the wall of the tool shed, leaving the blonde groaning in pain. Doing his best to dull the aching of his sides, he sharply took in a few breaths before shakily releasing them. It took him a moment to recover his wits while his head was still swimming from the surprise attack.

In normal circumstances, Draco would've been well guarded with his wand being ready at the drop of a hat. However, that would be for any danger that he considered a potential threat to the welfare of him completing his mission. The thought of the Mudblood ever attacking him had never crossed his mind. He figured that as long as he kept a sharp Occlumency-like focus upon finishing the quest, the only danger he faced was her getting under his skin.

Perhaps if he had taken her presence more seriously, he would not have found himself in such a predicament now.

 _"Feels like a Hippogriff just trampled over me."_ Draco thought managed to roll his body so that he was on his hands and knees. Letting out a weak groan, he groggily tried to push himself back up when he immediately stopped himself. He was utterly confused at the moment on seeing the tip of a wand pointed right at his face.

Was it something that he had said? Perhaps this was all a big misunderstanding? He tried to remember what it was that could have set the Mudblood off on this violent tangent.

"What...Granger...?"

"Draco Malfoy," her voice was barely above a whisper, yet he was able to feel it dripping with murderous intent. He was still befuddled over this venomous tone that was aimed at him. Then it hit him with the weight of a Bludger to the side of his head.

She had just said his name!

What could have given him away? There was no bloody way she would react in such a spiteful manner unless she had been able to discover his identity. He made sure to carefully guard his opinions, and, aside from a few snide remarks that he had hurled at her, there should have been no possible way for her to arrive to such a conclusion.

 _"Unless..."_ Draco thought to himself, dread overtaking all of his other senses. Taking a deep breath, he shakily brought his hands up to his face. It was just as he had feared. His fingers scraped against human flesh, rather than the gaudy Death mask.

Even if he had wanted to blame this on fate, Draco knew that what was done was done. There was no use in trying to cover his tracks or pretending that none of this had happened. He had messed up and now had to live with the consequences.

"I'll give you something that you never gave Dumbledore – a chance."

"Granger..." Draco weakly tried to protest when he saw the tip of Hermione's wand begin to glow. This wasn't a time for negotiations; he could tell that if he took one wrong step then she would have no qualms in watching him drop dead or at least lose his consciousness in this Merlin forsaken village.

"No Malfoy! Tell me, tell me why I shouldn't just get rid of you here and now! Give me one good reason why I should trust you, or I swear to Merlin my face will be the last thing you'll see!"

At this point, Hermione's emotions were getting the best of her, letting her anger completely consume her. It was also clear that it was causing her magical core to fluctuate, making the witch's wand constantly vibrate and flicker with an unstable glow.

There was no way that mere words could reach her at this point. He knew that drastic measures had to be taken so that he wouldn't forfeit his life. Not wanting to waste any more time, Draco raised his left arm in the air to ensure his intent of non-aggressiveness. Wincing in pain, he slowly took out his wand, rotated his wrist, and held up the wand so that it was visible for both of them.

"I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, swear upon my magic that I will not intentionally harm you during this trip and that I am only here to fulfill my obligations to the Order."

After his wand emitted a powerful shockwave, confirming his oath, Draco looked back at the bushy-haired witch. He could no longer see the cold, silent fury that was featured on her face but instead a mixture of disbelief and curiosity had replaced it.

"Malfoy, did you really...?" Hermione tried to finish her question but appeared to be at a loss for words.

Feeling much of the tension finally dissipate, he let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Ugh..." Draco groaned and spat some blood out before collapsing to the floor. Letting out a nervous chuckle, he sputtered out a few more coughs before rolling to his side. The worst was over, he had to start moving again. Showing any signs of weakness now would only lead to his own downfall.

_"Too bad I'm out of smokes, I would Crucio a Muggle to the inch of their lives just to have one right now."_

Slowly getting to his feet, Draco ignored the glare that he was still receiving from Hermione. Since they were past the stage of pure animosity, he figured that he would not be getting blasted from the back anytime soon. At least he hoped that this was true, otherwise there was no way he would be able to stay awake if he got hit by another big spell.

Limping over to the table, Draco pressed his weight down onto his arms and numbly stared at the map. Even with the short intermission, nothing about their situation had changed, they still needed to find an alternative exit. However, there was no possible way that he could focus on the mission, not with his body still trying to recover.

"G-Granger..." Draco licked his dry lips and gathered some saliva to lubricate his parched throat. He wanted to say something to her but his mind drew a blank. It was impossible to ignore all the bad history between them. Not wanting to give the witch an excuse to hit him with another spell, he chose to keep silent.

The awkward tension was quickly broken by the ongoing chaos surrounding the village.

"Tactical retreat! We have to regroup with the others! No! Don't go near them!"

_**CRASH** _

"What?" Hermione cried out when she saw that it was an Evolved that had come through the window.

"Granger! Run!" Panic began to set in when Draco saw the witch being completely petrified by the appearance of the monster. Not wanting to face the failure portion of the oaths he had taken, he ran toward the creature and tackled it with reckless abandon, slamming it against the wall. Draco knew that the pale demon was slightly deterred from the surprise attack and would only need a few seconds to get back on its feet.

"We don't have any time to waste," Draco yelled out in desperation, "Hurry up and get out Granger!"

Unfortunately, the warning went unheeded with the Evolved recovering much faster than expected. The monster pried itself off of the wall and bore its mouth in a menacing fashion. Letting out a vicious snarl, the creature squinted its eyes at Draco before making a mad dash towards him.

* * *

Hermione felt utterly helpless and unable to do anything while watching the event unfold before her eyes. She saw the horrid monster run straight at Draco and easily overpower him, pouncing on top of him. It was apparent to her what would happen if she didn't do anything to help her blonde nemesis.

Yes, she still despised Draco's very existence.  
Yes, she still wanted nothing more than for the Blonde to simply disappear.  
Yes, a part of her wanted nothing more than to leave him to this cruel fate.

However, Hermione wasn't the type to ignore those in need of help. Especially if there was any way she could be of assistance.

Taking a deep breath, she focused on channeling her magic toward the tip of her finger before storing it in the wand. Hermione then waved the stick around before aiming it at the Evolved and shouted,  _"Stupify!"_

The stunner came soaring out from her wand, hitting the back of the Evolved. The problem was that it did not produce the intended result since the creature was still conscious and standing. If she didn't know any better, then she could've sworn it had somehow absorbed the spell. Much to her continued dismay, the only thing that she was able to accomplish was diverting the monster's attention toward herself.

Desperately tightening her grip around her wand, Hermione drew upon her magic before firing off a Cutting Hex at the Evolved. The creature swatted the spell away, seemingly unhurt by it. She tried to repeat the process again only to find herself inexplicably failing. Her eyes widened when she realized that she was barely able to support her own weight.

The only thing she was able to ascertain was that she had most likely overdone it with her extreme reaction upon finding out the identification of the mercenary. After she had foolishly spent an exorbitant amount of energy on the situation with Draco, she was both mentally and emotionally drained. What she needed now was either a Strengthening Solution or some time to collect her bearings. Unfortunately, Hermione would not be afforded any of the aforementioned options.

 _"N-not now..."_ Hermione bitterly thought and saw the frightening creature begin to approach her. All the animosity that she had mustered to face her blonde-haired nemesis was now replaced with fear.

Once the Evolved came within striking distance, Hermione tried a different tactic – she wildly flailed away in an attempt to fend it off. The results were as impressive as the Chudley Cannons' vying for a top spot in the Quidditch league - trying their best but never good enough. Easily swatting away her futile attack, the creature knocked her down onto the ground. Jumping into the air, it then landed on top of the witch and let out a small snarl.

Hermione despondently tried to get back up, only to have the Evolved knock her right back down. Once she saw the creature raise its left arm into the air, her eyes widened in complete terror. This was the same position that the female Death Eater had been forced into before her gruesome demise. Was the same thing going to happen to her?

There were many things that were churning in her mind, but as soon as the Evolved extended its left hand onto Hermione's head and tightened its grip, regret was the only thing she felt. This was it, she was going to die here and all because she had decided to fulfill the whims of her Gryffindor-like tendencies. Why had she decided to save Draco in the first place?

 _"Which afterlife will I be going to?"_ Hermione grimly thought when the Evolved finally raised her into the air and began squeezing her head. Just like the Death Eater previously, her body had started to violently convulse while the creature's arm glowed.

_**Bang!** _

The Evolved suddenly loosened its grip on Hermione, unceremoniously dropping her. Letting out an aberrant cackling sound from the back of its throat, it clumsily stumbled around for a few seconds before emanating a high-pitched screech. It then plopped onto the floor before rolling around, wildly writhing and thrashing about before collapsing into a pile of lifeless flesh.

Hermione slowly opened her eyes and let out a small groan before backing away from the corpse. From what she could see, there was a large hole in the middle of its forehead, and that was apparently enough to kill it. Taking a deep breath, she shakily gave the Evolved a few taps and braced herself for its sudden reemergence.

No response, the abomination was dead.

Hermione blinked a few times and peered up from where she had heard the loud gunshot. It was Draco, and he had used the firearm to save her life. Well, that much was obvious since he was the only one in the vicinity that held the weapon.

 _"I suppose the magical oath was good for something,"_ she mused, thanking the Founders for binding Draco to her life. She wasn't under any delusion that he had rescued her out of goodwill, but for self-preservation.

"Hey! I heard a firearm getting discharged down by the water tunnel! Go check it out."

Shaking his head and crossing his arm, Draco impatiently tapped his foot and growled, "Get up Granger, the other Death Eaters are coming, so we have to leave now."

Heading over to the door, he added, "I found something while exploring the back of this tiny hut. I'm not sure if it's an exit, but it's the only option that I see fit in this situation."

**[She paused for a second, bearing an expression of amusement on her face before telling me how they went to the aforementioned location]**

Once the pair arrived at the point of interest, the only thing remaining was to open the entryway to the sewers. It was at this moment that Hermoine sighed before shaking her head and speaking up.

"Malfoy, I'm going to be honest with you, now that I know it was you who was helping me. I don't think I can go along with you anymore." Closing her eyes, she then crossed her arms and continued, "I'm not sure if I can handle being anywhere near you, so how about we go our separate way from here."

Draco's eyes almost bulged out from their sockets when he heard this sudden statement from Hermione. After everything that he had done to keep her safe, she would have him abandon her? Not only did he have a magically binding contract with McGonagall, but he also had one with the Mudblood. In any other circumstance, he would've liked nothing more than to sneer at her, insult her, and then gone about his own business. The risk of her getting injured or dying was too high, especially when the village was getting overrun with the Evolved.

"Retreat and regroup with the other units! No! Don't cast spe-argh!"

Draco cupped his mouth with both of his hands and stared at the girl. He knew that for every second that ticked by from his inactivity, the risk of being caught in a deadly encounter would increase. Not only were Death Eaters on their way, but who knew when another demonic creature would come and attack them?

Yes, Draco valued his life, but he held his magical core in higher esteem. The very idea of becoming a useless squib was so repugnant that he admitted of wanting to rather forfeit the right to live than to continue such an abnormal existence.

Taking a deep breath, he raised his Occlumency barriers while convincing himself that what he was about to do next did not have the ill intent of harming the witch. It was a risky plan, but if he executed this fast enough then neither of them would be in any danger. Drawing up his wand, Draco focused on gathering just enough energy for him to cast a Stinging Jinx at Hermione.

"Ouch! Malfoy, what was that for?"

Unperturbed by her bland accusation, Draco immediately began laying the foundation for the next spell before pointing his wand at Hermione and chanted, " _Incarcerous_."

Draco watched the brown haired witch awkwardly fall while sporting an angry blush that could easily match the Weasel's when he became furious or embarrassed. While he enjoyed a good session of pureblood condescension, he was also past the sophomoric stage of reveling in it. Plus there were much more urgent things to do than to remind the impure ones of their lower status.

Letting out a sneer, Draco ignore Hermione's empty threats and protests and slung her immobilized body over his shoulder. Since he had cast a weakened version of the spell, he figured that the sturdiness of the rope would only last for three minutes.

That was if she didn't break out of it herself first.

Walking over to the sewer entrance, Draco stole a glance inside and saw that it was connected to a water pipeline. It wasn't the most ideal or hygienic situation that he would've liked, but there wasn't any room for him to complain. Not when his very magical existence was at stake.

"Hey! I think I saw something down there!"

Cursing under his breath, Draco let out a small grunt before dumping Hermione into the dirty aqueduct. A scowl entered his face when he failed to hear a shriek come from the witch. He found it hard to believe that she wouldn't react accordingly, especially in times of trepidation.

Slightly disappointed, Draco grimaced while grasping at the back end of his left forearm. Even with all the precautions and limitations that he had placed upon the spells, he was still feeling a backlash beginning to wash over him. If his condition continued to deteriorate, then he would have no choice but to submit to the completion of the poisonous link.

But until he was forced to do so, he would never-

"Down there! I see someone! Wait hold on!"

A cacophony of both human and bestial voices rained down upon the spot where Draco was located. Realizing that a flurry of chaos was about to occur in the irrigation ditch, he promptly withdrew himself and followed Hermione into the sewers.

* * *

**Closer Look:** Hermione

This war has wrought with it many changes, much that I have yet to comprehend. There have always been numerous things that I haven't known about the magical world, but ever since the war had broken out, I can safely say that I know absolutely nothing.

For as long as I remember, I so desperately have tried to prove to everyone that I belong in this community. That my..status of being a Muggleborn should not matter, that I am not a second rate, uncultured barbarian.

Why does this matter to me? Because I don't fit in with Muggles either. Yeah, it's a memory that I have buried deep within my subconsciousness, but it's always been present, waiting for an opportunity to be unearthed. Even with those of 'my own kind' I have been a recluse, a socially awkward child who would lose herself within books because...well, it's because I'm bad with people.

Thank Merlin for Harry.

Still, at the end of the day, the only person I have managed to fool is me, Hermione Granger. The smartest witch of her generation. Yes, I say fool and not convinced because I don't think I have ever been able to persuade myself of this belief.

And ironically enough, it has taken a life threatening episode with the Evolved to have this shown to me!

A bloody creature.

Of course, they would never accept me for who I am. Never.

For all the academic excellence that I have demonstrated over the years in Hogwarts, and the bonds that I have formed with the authority figures, the only thing that has been afforded to me was the blanket of secrecy.

Yes, McGonagall has told me that this has been done for my sake so that I would be protected from both the horrors of the war and the Death Eaters.

I would've wholeheartedly believed her if it wouldn't be for one major problem.

Him.

Draco Malfoy.

Even with his partaking in killing Dumbledore and allowing the Death Eaters to penetrate Hogwarts, he was still given leeway by the Light side. Would the same gratitude have been extended if it were a wizard from a lesser known family? What about an individual that were in the same position as I am?

I...I don't know anymore...this war doesn't make sense any longer. I wish it were back to the pre-war days, at least then I would know what was considered 'good' and what was considered 'bad'.

I'll keep trusting the Headmistress, because if I lose this, then what do I have left remaining?

My friends? Who knows where they are now.

My parents? Can't risk communicating with them any longer.

Where am I again? Am I not...?

* * *

Hermione groggily stirred awake, slowly lifting her head before coughing out the dirty sewage water. Letting out a small groan, she slowly opened her eyes and took a few seconds to allow them to adjust to her surroundings. The last thing she recalled was going her own separate way from Draco before becoming incapacitated and flung down into the sewers.

"Malfoy!" Hermione yelped, hurriedly scrambling to her feet. Scanning the area, she noticed that the aforementioned wizard was nowhere to be found in the immediate vicinity. Letting out a small huff, she wondered where the stuck-up prat was before remembering how he had thrown her down here.

Hermione felt a light blush emanate when she remembered just how easily Draco had manhandled her. She was eternally grateful for the oath that he had taken or she could only imagine what he would've done to from the veiled implication of what could've transpired, the witch decided to think about something different.

Looking down at herself, Hermione noted that all of her clothing were soaked from sliding down the pipe and unceremoniously dropping straight down onto the floor. Face first. She was completely drenched from top to bottom, with nothing to help her dry them. At the very least, he could've released her beforehand so that she would have been able to better brace herself for the fall. The only silver lining to all of this would be that Draco would also be suffering a similar predicament.

At the very least, seeing Draco in a less-than-ideal 'pureblood' form would bring about a small amount of satisfaction. Yes, it was very petty of her, but with how the entire day had turned out, she was willing to accept even the smallest of victories.

All preceding thoughts were deleted from her mind when she saw Draco elegantly slide off of the pipe. Aside from a small portion of his pants that became wet only after he stepped into the water, he still upheld the snobbish, privileged appearance that he seemingly pulled off with little effort.

"It's easy to see just how poor your upbringing was from your inability of being presentable in any given circumstance. Typical Mudblood," Draco sneered.

If there was one thing that Hermione was willing to concede, it was that Draco excelled at raising her ire and having her quickly lose her composure. Case in point? She wasn't a violent person by any stretch of the imagination, heck, she was considered the 'moral voice' within the group. However, she had to admit the one time that she did hit him, effectively wiping the smirk off of her arch nemesis' face, never felt so good.

Still, with that being stated, she was once again close to reaching the limits of her patience. It was clear that the two would engage each other in a caustic and exhausting argument. But rather than giving into the temptation of the toxic routine, Hermione chose to bite her lower lip and lower her gaze to the sewage floor. Slowly counting to ten, she took a deep breath, collected her thoughts before taking a quick look around the area.

Seeing a rusted door nearby, she pointed to it while telling him, "Let's move out of here. We just got out of a dangerous situation and have no idea where we are and what exactly is lurking down here."

The room looked to be some type of resting area with only a bench and a few crushed cans found inside of the place. Closing and locking the door behind them, Draco casually leaned against a wall while Hermione shook her head before asking, "Tell me Malfoy, what changed?"

Hearing the question, Draco looked at her with a curious expression on his face.

"Let me rephrase it then, what changed to make you accept this mission?" Hermione had managed to soothe her nerves enough to project an air of lucidity. It wouldn't serve her well for Draco to pick up on any perceived weakness. Even though everything about the mission had become one big convoluted mess, she was cognizant of herself. "The Malfoy that I knew was an arrogant ponce that either needed his father's permission to breath or used his family's name to get what he wanted."

To say that he was surprised by the direction of the conversation would he an understatement. Draco was sure that all of his actions would result in another verbal fight between them. He was mentally prepared with all sorts of degrading insults, clever quips, and condescending sneers.

But this? He wasn't expecting the Mudblood to actually touch upon a sore and sensitive subject.

Grinding his teeth together, Draco shook his head before spitting out in disgust, "Nothing, nothing's changed at all, I just made a stupid deal and have to live with the consequences. Like I said before, this is all just a mission for me, nothing more, nothing less. I still loathe know-it-all Mudbloods like you."

Hermione was tempted to take out her wand and hex the living daylights out of Draco but decided the risk wasn't worth the minimal reward. Even if the room had a deathly, foul scent that would deter any organism from flourishing down here, there was no telling if this applied to the Evolved. The smell was almost enough to make her want to avoid the incoming confrontation with the Malfoy heir. Of course, if the world revolved around the concept of 'almost' being enough to fulfill a condition, then reality itself would be a vastly different place.

"Alright then Malfoy, I don't think we've ever really had a chance to talk, so let's do it shall we?"

Draco sighed when he realized that Hermione had effectively defused the built-up tension. Quickly becoming bored with the situation, he nonchalantly gave her a shrug before shoving his hands into his robes.

"The only thing we should be discussing is getting you back to those pathetic Order members so that you guys can finally leave me alone."

"No," Hermione responded with more authority and confidence in her voice than before. "I want to know what it is that clouds your judgment. Why do you hate us Muggleborns so much? Is it because that's what your father believes and you have to follow his every example? Are you admitting to me that you don't have your own core of beliefs and just follow people without giving it much thought? Perhaps that explains why you agree to such abhorrent contracts about which you're whinging."

"Just stop and bugger off Granger," Draco curtly replied.

"Could it be that you don't understand the world from our perspective?" Hermione shook her head before answering her own question, "No, there has to be a deeper reason than that, because as much as I loathe to admit it, you are quite intelligent Malfoy."

Hermione tilted her head to the side and bit her lower lip before continuing, "Perhaps the so-called culture that you always rant on about, which I lack, is tied in with all this blind hatred and bigotry? It could be possible since a vast majority of the purebloods, especially those that pledged allegiance to Voldemort, carry the same attitude."

Draco visibly cringed at hearing the Dark Lord's name before warning her in a low hiss, "Granger, I suggest that you stop saying You-Know-Who's name, and Merlin, just stop asking questions!"

Hermione ignored this as she tilted her head before asking, "Or is it because you're afraid?"

Finally having heard enough of her prattling, Draco stomped up to Hermione and angrily pushed her against the walls. Having her trapped in between his arms, he let out a low snarl and responded, "First off, don't you dare bring up or talk about my father, mother, or any of my family, got it?" Flaring his nose in frustration, a flash of red crossed his eyes before he continued speaking, "Secondly, stop acting as though you know everything there is to our society. Let me tell you something that every other person has been saying behind your back. You know absolutely nothing and you are merely being destructive with your existence, rather than being constructive."

Hermione felt all sorts of emotions bubbling up to the surface, all of it threatening to break out at a given moment. However, the thought of manifesting them in such a circumstance never crossed her mind. She was not going to give Draco the satisfaction of knowing that he had managed to get under her skin and intimidate her with his cowardly, bully-like tactics. Especially considering the fact that she had faced off against worse, threats that promised her death.

Putting all of this into perspective eased her titillating nerves. She had reminded herself of all the impressive achievements that Draco had accomplished before becoming a Death Eater, which as none.

Fluttering her eyes a few times, Hermione decided to copy Draco by doing an equally impressive 'I-care-not-for-you-since-I'm-better-than-you' shrug.

"If you won't respect my wishes, then why should I care? Sure, you tormented and ridiculed me due to something that is out of my control, but guess what? At least I excelled at everything that was within my respective powers." Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Why don't you tell me what you were able to do with your so-called 'privileged' status."

"SHUT UP!" Draco furiously shouted, pointing his wand directly at Hermione's face. Staring at her for a few seconds, he muttered something incoherent under his breath before releasing her from the position. Looking back at her, a smirk suddenly graced the corner of his lips. "Fine, you want a taste of your own medicine? I'll tell you what, I love just how, despite your struggles for equality, you put on this air of condenscension and look down on everyone that doesn't meet the criteria of your so-called intellectual standard."

Hermione felt her eyes widen at the accusation. That wasn't true, was it? This was a baseless allegation to try and bully her again, wasn't it?

Draco continued on with the verbal assault, "All of you Mudbloods just waltz into our world, completely ignorant of our traditions, culture, and history and do nothing in an attempt to learn of it. Yet be the first to cry foul play and demand changes when things become somewhat uncomfortable, without even trying to blend in with our society."

"Now hold on a second, that's not true at all!" Hermione responded, determined to defend herself from the barrage of uninformed and offensive bigotry.

Draco now held a full-on grin while he asked, "Then tell me, what do you know about the history of magic...outside of Professor Binns' class and those ridiculous, standard textbooks?"

Hermione opened her mouth then promptly closed it. This was a trick question, wasn't it? He was giving her a question that would be impossible for her to answer since the information that he was fishing for were something that only purebloods had access to.

She refused to give him the benefit of a victory. Hermione wanted to tell him that none of those books from the Old Family Library mattered since they did not pertain to her scholarly education, but then that would only fortify his claim. There was also the matter of informing him of her ignorance in that departments simply because there was nobody to guide her. However, when there was a subject that piqued her interest, then nothing short of an apocalypse would stop her from researching it.

"By the way Granger, you're right," he said as he closed the distance between their faces. "We aren't in school, we're outside now where there are no established laws or authority figures. You're also a female, don't ever forget that part."

The two glared at each other for a few more seconds before Draco finally detached himself from the close proximity. Hermione felt her cheeks tinge as the reminder of her gender and his implications were more than enough for her.

"And don't worry, no matter how desperate I may become, I'm not in the business of tainting my bloodline."

Before the argument could resume, both of them heard a familiar, low growl of an Evolved echo through the tunnels of the sewer.

"Mmmrgh..."

"Bloody hell," Draco murmured under his breath, "They're down here too?"

"Malfoy," Hermione spoke up as she took a deep breath and peeled herself from the wall. Now wasn't the time for petty arguments, not when their lives were at stake. She bit her lower lips as she swallowed her pride extended her right arm, "Since we are stuck in this situation together, I suggest a compromise towards us cooperating in a joint effort to survive the remainder of this journey."

Draco shrugged as he extended his own and briefly shook it. "Like I said Granger, this is just business for me. I just want to finish this job, move on with my life, and hopefully, never see you again."

"I share the same sentiments."

Exiting the room, the sound of the creature reminded them that they were still in terrible danger. They had to leave the sewers and try to find a safe location as soon as they could. However, it would be unwise on either person's part to rashly rush through the area. Plus, they still had to recover from their previous ordeal in Hogsmeade. If they didn't find anything that would immediately endanger their lives, then they would use the time to prepare themselves for the next place.

After the passing of this odd moment of understanding, the pair discarded the remainder of their spat as they waded through the ankle-deep water and onto the next connecting tunnel. The underwater passageway that they were traversing was just wide enough to fit a wooden carriage and big enough to comfortably fit Hagrid, without him having to duck his head. Just like Hogsmeade, much of the area was poorly lit with only a handful of torches illuminating the path.

"Wait!"

Hermione stopped near one of the torches and tried to grab hold of it, though to no avail. The light source was placed just out of her reach and she was unable to use magic to bring it down to her hand. Letting out a small huff of frustration, she turned back to her escort and shook her head.

"Well?"

Draco blinked a few times in confusion at the one-worded question before asking, "Well what?"

"Are you going to stand there and stare at me all day, or are you going to help me here?"

Rubbing the back of his neck, Draco shook his head before replying, "Granger, I hate you, and you hate me. We bloody hate each other, right? So why in Merlin's name would I ever want to help you? Besides, do I look like a house elf to you?"

"Do you want me to answer that truthfully?" Hermione retorted with a smirk on her lips. "I'm not going anywhere until I get one of those torches in my hand."

Draco opened his mouth to say something but promptly closed it again. In a situation like this, he had no leverage or power that would take back control. The only thing he could do was either listen to her or leave the Mudblood behind and continue exploring. While it was tempting to do the latter, he was not going to risk violating the oaths and leave himself crippled.

Letting out a sigh, he briskly grabbed hold of the dark robe that Hermione was wearing and told her, "Strip."

Looking at him in disbelief, she felt an unnerving blush creep up to her cheeks. Swiping at Draco's arm, she shook her head and responded, "What?! Are you barking mad Malfoy? Just a second ago you said that you hated me, and now you to-"

"Stop, don't finish that sentence, ever," Draco warned her in a disgusted tone. "You, implying that I would ever find you attractive in any manner is downright absurd."

Hermione blinked a few times and asked, "Then why did you..."

Lightly rubbing his right shoulder blade, he let out a yawn before continuing, "First of all, do you not remember the oath that I took at Hogsmeade? And secondly, compared to all the girls in Hogwarts that I've shagged, you don't come close to measuring up against any of them."

Draco kicked a nearby pebble and added, "Especially since they're purebloods. That doesn't matter now, just give me your robe and I'll get that damn torch for you."

Slipping out from the Death Eater robe, Hermione tossed it over to Draco which he was easily able to catch. Forming a thick knot with the end of the dark robe, he took careful aim of the lantern before knocking it down from the placeholder. Unfortunately, he was not ready for the torch to flip around in the air, causing him to fumble around with it before grabbing the handle. Letting out a small sigh, he gave a nonchalant shrug and handed it off to the witch before asking her, "Well, are you ready to move now?"

Hermione reluctantly nodded and the two moved forward in silence, with the sound of running water being the only deterring factor between them. Much of the monotony was eventually broken when they came across a pathway that forked into two different directions: left or right.

"Granger..." Draco began to speak when he was immediately interrupted by the brunette.

"Let's split up, I'll check the left side, and don't worry, I'll be careful. If anything, I'll yell out if I need any assistance."

* * *

Draco watched Hermione walk away to the left side. His gut instincts were screaming to chase after her to ensure that she would not be in harm's way. However, another part of him deftly informed him to take the opportunity to cool off from his encounter with the Mudblood. He was reminded that he was a mercenary, not a babysitter. If the witch was unable to defend herself here, then there would be no chance for them to survive this ordeal. Plus, with everything that had transpired in the past few hours, he definitely needed some time to process it alone.

Going off to the opposite tunnel, Draco partially regretted his judgment, or lack thereof, for not getting himself a torch. He knew that he had no one else to blame except himself, but being in the mere presence of the damnable woman seemed to grate his nerves without fail. Quelling the feelings of contrition, the blonde cautiously explored his side a bit further.

"So, this one just leads to a dead end," Draco muttered to himself, looking down at the tunnel that he had chosen. However, all was not lost since there was another path that tapered off to the left. Looking at it, he blinked and shook his head, "So then this one goes to where Granger is, right? So then why was it built like this in the first place?

Shaking his head in wonder again, he was about to join Hermione on her side when he noticed a ditch from the corner of his eyes. Examining the Canal, he was able to find a few empty boxes and bags, all of which appeared to be discarded garbage. However, the item of interest that caught his attention was a piece of paper that was lying on one of the wooden crates.

_Bloody hell, I'm gone for a few months and the world doesn't waste any time going to complete shit. It's like everywhere I turn there's either people trying to kill you, or those fucking monsters._

_(Illegible Scribble)_

_Dark side? Light side? Fuck that, I'm in this for myself, and I have to admit, I'm surprised that I've even survived this long. The sewers here seem safe to me, with lots of exits and entrances all around the place that make it a natural maze._

_(Illegible Scribble)_

_I might not be toughest guy out there, but I know that I'm pretty fast. Plus with all the loose material that I can scavenge, I can easily craft myself a potion or an item if I need it. I might just hide out here until this whole clusterfuck gets sorted._

_Guess I'll keep an account of it in this journal._

_-TNott_

Draco felt his mouth dry after reading the note. This was just a huge coincidence, right? He only knew of one person with the family name Nott who attended Hogwarts with him, and this person just so happened to start their birth name with the letter 'T' - Theodore. Even if he wanted to deny the connection, the handwriting was just too familiar for him to disregard it.

Did this mean that Theodore was hiding somewhere in here? Not wanting to dwell on this for the moment, Draco stashed the note away and made his way through the connecting tunnel, rejoining Hermione on the other side.

"Malfoy? Did you find anything over there?"

Draco shook his head, "No, just found some garbage lying around. Let's keep going."

There was no need for the Mudblood to butt into Slytherin business. He would keep this information to himself.


	4. 4

**[I didn't know there was a sewer system near Hogsmeade]**

**Radio:** _...and in other news, Hogsmeade has reportedly been run over by the wretched Evolved. We will continue to bring you further updates as we get more information in regards to this situation and everything else. Listeners, that brings us to the end of another Potterwatch. We aren't sure when it will be possible to broadcast again..._

"What do we have here?" Hermione muttered under her breath, bringing the torch closer to the wall. Squinting her eyes, she traced her fingers alongside the grime covered surface. She found some interesting signs and letters scribbled all over the place. However, the one that intrigued her the most was the arrow pointing forward and the word 'HELP!' with a cross mark next to it. Tilting her head down, she was able to discern another message, but this one written in a much smaller print.

"Ravens are always in the air while snakes are always on the ground..." Hermione rubbed her eyes then shook her head. This couldn't be a mere coincidence, right? She didn't want to raise her hopes up, but would it be possible for them to find survivors down here who also went to Hogwarts? Still, what was the point of a message that pointed out the obvious? This didn't sit well with her since the only other writing she found was the warning sign right above this.

_"Unless this is a riddle encompassed to look like a simple message, it's just a truism! But why would someone do this?"_ Hermione thought to herself before squatting down and lowering her level of vision. She searched around for a few seconds and spotted the other piece of information that the writer apparently wanted hidden.

"Beware the holders of the Dark Mark, they are the reason for the Evolved." Hermione's eyes lit up after reading the message. While there was no evidence supporting this, she couldn't help but wonder if there really was a direct correlation between those that bore the damning insignia and the unknown creatures. There was also the fact that rather than use 'Death Eater', this person had consciously decided to write something else.

Shaking her head, Hermione continued her progress down the tunnel when she noticed an interconnecting tube on the side. Biting her lower lip, she began to contemplate on which one to go through but stopped after seeing a familiar figure come trudging before her eyes.

"Malfoy?" Hermione called out, wanting to get a response from him. Clearing her throat, she tried once again. "Malfoy?" It was apparent that there was something bothering the blonde, but she didn't want to invade his privacy. She had no reason to intrude upon his thoughts, and quite frankly, she was only doing it to be polite to him.

"Malfoy? Did you find anything over there?" Hermione managed to ask when she was able to get his attention.

Draco shook his head, "No, just found some garbage lying around. Let's keep going."

Hermione couldn't help but scoff at the dismissive attitude that Draco was showing her but said nothing of it. She knew that he was at least trying to uphold his end of the deal, showing attempts at being civil towards her. If he didn't want to share anything with her, then she wouldn't press the issue any further.

The two started walking together again, neither bothering to engage a conversation with the other. They continued silently trudging forward, ignoring the waffling scent of the sewers while doing their best to wade through the thick, murky water. This continued until they came across the creature that emitted the low growl. However, this Evolved seemed to be lacking its usual menacing presence, looking almost void of subsistence. It was merely standing off to the side with its back turned to them in a lifeless, slouched position.

"Malfoy," Hermione whispered to him, "does that Evolved look strange to you?"

Taking another look at the aforementioned creature, he answered, "Maybe this is how they really are when they aren't hunting for magic."

Hermione shook her head, "Look, some of its veins are missing, and the usual albino pigment of its skin appears to be changing into a different shade. It's hard to notice at first but..."

Draco put his hand up to indicate his annoyance. "What's your point, Granger?"

"I think I might have discovered something about these Evolved. The details are still kind of vague, but I believe we could somehow use it to our advantage if my theory turns out correct. Anyways, since nothing will be accomplished by doing nothing, can I ask if you still have the firearm on you?"

Looking at her suspiciously, Draco then shrugged before answering, "Even if I do, I won't be handing it over to you, why do you want to know?"

Hermione shrugged back before casually replying, "I'm going to go on ahead, so if the thing decides to wake up and attack me, you can easily provide support for me."

"No! Have you become completely barmy? Bloody hell, woman, I'll go first in case this thing's still active. I don't feel like becoming a squib or worse, facing the reaper's scythe, just because you got careless and couldn't react properly to a lazy attack," Draco furiously hissed.

Even if the creature wasn't looking at them, there was no way he was going to be taking any chances. Giving himself a wide enough berth while holding the firearm in his hand, Draco flattened his back against the tunnel walls and cautiously started moving past it. While he squeezed through the side, he made sure to keep his eyes focused on the creature, ensuring not to get caught off guard. Luckily for him, he did not have to make use of the weapon.

Seeing the relative safety of Draco's position even at such propinquity, Hermione limberly copied his movements. The passivity of the Evolved allowed both of them to be able to get across without any problems.

"Well?"

Hermione tilted her head while asking, "Well, what?"

"Don't be so daft and tell me this theory of yours," Draco demanded.

"I can't say on a definitive that this would be considered factual, however, upon touching the Evolved's skin, I can say for certain that there is a high probability that my observation could be a truth."

Draco sighed and once again cut her off and pointed forward. "You're taking too long, we'll both be dead by the time you finish. Just forget I asked. Come on, let's get a move on."

Letting out an angry huff, Hermione glared back at him. "Then don't ask me for my opinion next time!"

"I didn't know you would be lecturing me from a textbook Granger," Draco drawled in a perfected posh voice.

Hermione closed her eyes and massaged her forehead, all while muttering something inaudible under her breath before replying, "Let's just keep moving."

The pair slogged along the dirty sewage water for a few more paces before coming to what appeared to be a dead end – more specifically a giant steel wall. It didn't make any sense to either of them that these long winding tunnels would lead them to nowhere. The only things they saw was an overturned carriage to their left and a miniature ladder on the right.

"For Salazar's sake," Draco muttered in frustration, "what in Merlin's name is wrong with this place?"

Hermione bit her lower lip and stayed silent for a few more seconds before shaking her head and replying, "Doesn't it seem strange that there's some type of transportation vehicle in the middle of the sewers here? I mean, why is it here in the first place? How did it get here? Doesn't that concern you in the least?"

Draco rolled his eyes while shrugging and casually answered back with a deadpan face. "It's magic, stop questioning everything Mudblood." He couldn't help but let out a sigh when he heard the witch start to go off on one of her despicable rants.

Shaking his head, Draco went over to the ladder, not bothering to hear the rest of what Hermione had to say. Scaling the ladder, he spotted a big red button along with a clumsily written sign that read, 'Op/Cl.'. Rubbing the back of his neck, he stared at it for a few more seconds before opting to press it. This triggered the large steel wall to exude a loud, dull groan, followed by low tremors that appeared to shake the entire sewer.

"Oh Merlin," Draco mumbled, finding it difficult to maintain his balance upon the ladder. Hopping off of it, he turned to the source of the racket while asking Hermione, "Granger! Did that do anything, besides make all this noise?"

The steel wall seemed to answered his question, rumbling to life while slowly ascending from the floor. At first, neither of the two thought anything of the wavering sewage at their ankle. This changed when they felt the rapid shift in the water currents and the increase in its volume. Not only had it had risen up to their knees, but it was also pushing them backwards. Both Draco and Hermione went over to the overturned carriage and hopped on top of it.

Watching the water beneath their feet grow deeper in depth, Draco merely shrugged before taking out a long, frazzled rope from his robe. "Granger, hurry and tie that around your waist, we don't have much time."

Hermione took the rope and quickly wrapped it around her stomach and secured it with a knot. She gave him a brief nod before dropping down to her knees. The carriage that she was standing upon was starting to buckle under the strong currents that were gushing out from the lifting steel wall. Both of them became concerned over the possibilities of the water simply

They felt relieved when they saw that did not have to stay on it for long, since the uncovering of the blockade revealed a much bigger path with similarly oversized surfaces that could be used to stay out of the water. Of course, the route going forward was compounded with the same condition that was plaguing them now – deep, sewage water that was rapidly moving backwards.

"Malfoy," Hermione shakily said, doing her best to balance herself on the wobbling carriage. "I have to tell you that I...can't really-"

_**Splash!** _

A pale, disfigured arm suddenly shot out of the water and plastered itself onto the side of the overturned vehicle. Another one shortly followed afterward, with a grotesque head with pupil-less eyes popping up to the surface. It seemed to stare at Hermione for a few seconds before slowly opening its jaws and letting out an inhuman screech. Immediately after, it slithered up to where the two were standing and lunged toward them.

"Piss off," Draco angrily shouted, leaping up and stomping the monster in the face. Not wanting to give the creature a chance to recover, he swiftly kicked it back into the stream. "Looks like we won't be safe here, so let's start moving Granger."

The two quickly jumped across to a different platform, with Draco taking the lead which would ensure a safety net for Hermione, in the case that she slipped or fell into the water. Every time they got onto a different landing spot, they found the same shaky and unstable foundation. This continued until they managed to reach the roof of a broken-down train. While this one appeared to be a lot more sturdier than the others, just the fact that it was still groaning under the weight of two people being on top of it was not a good sign.

"Granger," Draco drew in a sharp breath before nodding toward the catwalk. "That looks stable enough, what with it hanging from the ceiling and away from all this water. Get ready to jump." Walking to the end of the train, Draco ran, in full stride, to the opposite side before jumping and reaching the footway.

Bearing witness to Draco's success, Hermione closed her eyes and began muttering words of self-encouragement under her breath. Looking straight at her target destination, she started to dash toward the catwalk and made an attempt to jump across. The bushy-haired witch leapt wide, clearing the gap without much of a problem. It was only when she gathered her feet that she had slipped, barely managing to grab the edge of the catwalk in the last second. Letting out a weak smile, she reached out to grab the blonde's hand when she felt something slimy grab one of her ankles.

"What?" Hermione shrieked, finding herself getting dragged down into the water.

Grabbing hold of Hermione's arms, Draco began pulling the witch towards him. Surprisingly, it didn't take much for him to free her from the creature's grasp. However, since he did not expect to break her away so easily, he was still tugging at her with the same amount of force but with nothing to counteract his momentum. Thus, he found himself forcibly flopping backwards, taking the brunette with him.

"Mmmrph..." Draco groaned, trying to make sense of the weight that was pressing against his face. He knew that the Mudblood had used his body to cushion herself from the fall, that much was obvious. What he wanted to figure out was the position in which she had landed on top of him. Should he be disgusted now, or later? Deciding to get this over with, Draco pushed against the flesh that was pressed against his face.

_"Soft..."_ was the first thing that flashed through his mind with both of his hands now investigating the source of this tender texture. It took Draco all of one good grope for him to recognize what it was that was straddling his face. This immediately triggered a dissenting war between his pureblood teachings and his hormonal male side.

_"It's the bloody Mudblood, but on the other hand, it's breasts...Mudblood or breasts? Mudblood or breasts?"_

**[Yep, this wasn't surprising to me since males apparently do lose their ability to think logically when they use their other head to make their decisions]**

The question was answered for him in the form of Hermione prying herself off of Draco while screaming in a disgusted voice. Letting out a small sigh, the blonde wizard dusted off his robes before standing back up on his feet. Cracking some of the tense muscles in his neck, he then told her, "I'm going on ahead first, Granger. Take your time and catch your breath."

Draco was glad that he had decided to go on ahead by himself. When he had come across the end of the catwalk, there were two things that drew his attention. The first was an impromptu ladder that stopped at a drawn-in hole, which he presumed was the concave entrance to the next room. The second was a note. Picking it up, he began to read through it.

_Yesterday, met some people that weren't on either side of the war. They were survivors, just like me. They were cautious about meeting me at first, but I was able to trade some goods and supplies with them._

_(illegible scribble)_

_I felt bad. They had kids with them and all of them seemed pretty scared. I almost told them about this place. Yeah yeah, I know, I could hear Draco telling me how unslytherin I am for trying to care about others that won't benefit me. Still..._

_(illegible scribble)_

_You know what? I don't care. This isn't about house pride or anything like that anymore. What's the point of surviving if you have nobody to share the experience with? Nobody to get you through these times? Maybe it's because I've been alone for some time but..._

_(illegible scribble)_

_I'm going back tomorrow. I'll go search for them. Let's see if they want to join me in here._

_-Theodore_

This all but confirmed that the writer of these notes was the same person that attended Hogwarts with him. While there were numerous subjects that the two could speak about, there was only one that really interested him. The most important thing he wanted to confront Theodore with was his eagerness to abandon everything that he had procured in the Slytherin House. Shaking his head, Draco crumpled up the note and threw it into the water.

"Is something the matter, Malfoy?"

Upon hearing Hermione's voice, Draco shook the thoughts out of his head. Now wasn't the time to be losing his wits, not when he still had a job to finish. Taking a deep breath, he nonchalantly shrugged and answered, "I thought I was going to die of boredom just waiting for you, Granger."

A scowl entered Hermione's face but nothing more came out from this exchange. With things having become slightly more settled between them, they decided to scale the ladder. Once they reached the top, they were able to get a better look at the next room.

"I hope I don't get sick from this place," Hermione mumbled to herself, looking at the new area that they had entered. Gone were the long winding tunnels and dirty sewage water, with it being replaced by a large, white room with splotches of questionable markings all over the walls.

_"This place looks dirty,"_ was the first thought that entered both of their minds. However, the slight change of scenario was a welcome sight to them, even if it looked like it was wrought with unknown diseases.

"Anyways Mudblood, let's scout the area and see if we can find anything around here."

After a few seconds of investigation, it was clear that a group of people had previously resided in this area. There were worn-out furniture, rusted tools, torn books, ripped garments, soiled toiletries, and a few broken toys that could be found scattered around the place.

Hermione was about to comment on her findings when she saw a piece of paper lying on top of a wooden table. Just the fact that it hadn't been drenched in the dirty sewage water...

while still looking legible held her curiosity. Picking it up, she noticed that it was some sort of entry from a personal diary.

_One spell and one unlocked door. That's all it took._

_I don't know who it was, but someone used a spell down here and also forgot to close one of the doors. A huge horde of those monsters came out of nowhere down into the sewers_

_(illegible scribble)_

_I still have Penny and some of the kids here with me. I think we're the only survivors remaining, as far as I know. I feel guilty but I had to hold her down so that she wouldn't go running back in there._

_(illegible scribble)_

_I could hear Draco sneering at me and telling me "I told you so," while giving me that condescending look. All I wanted to do was help other people, find a reason to continue living in this Merlin forsaken world._

_It's hard to lose a loved one huh? I didn't know what to say to her or the children. And honestly? I just want to give up at this point. But I can't do that, for some reason I still have faith in humanity and for them to do the right thing._

_This war is just temporary. I just have to stay strong and get through this. If not for me, then at least for her. I was able to keep them locked inside of the room, I have no idea how it works, but I think I was able to do it. Just for extra measure, I undid the latches for the next room._

_Should be safe for us to escape. I think._

_-Theodore Nott_

Hermione felt her nerves lock up and her throat dry up after reading the note. She didn't know who would be pompous enough to sign their own name after a journal entry, but she figured that if it was anyone then it would be the members of the Slytherin House. Speaking of a particular group, this made her mind flash back to the warning that she had read. It had made mention of ravens and snakes, and if she were to put all the clues together, then could this Penny person be Penelope Clearwater? Did that mean Percy was down here with them as well?

_"I have to stop,"_ Hermione thought to herself while shaking her head. " _I'm just jumping to conclusions at this point. Nothing else was specified on this piece of paper. I should at least give this to him out of respect for his classmate."_

"Hey Malfoy," Hermione hesitantly called out. "I think you should take a look at this."

Hermione waited for Draco to come around before handing him the note. There was a curious mixture of expressions that crossed her arch-nemesis' face. The most distinguishing feature was the silence that he continuously demonstrated. She wasn't sure just how close the two were but judging from the contents, she was able to surmise that they were at least acquaintances, perhaps even closer than that.

"What a crock of shit," she heard Draco mumble under his breath before crumbling up the note and tossing it to the floor. Feeling the awkward tension surrounding the blonde, Hermione decided to excuse herself and continue the exploration. It wasn't long before she was able to find the entrance to the next room. Wanting to give Draco a few minutes to recover, she decided to wait for him by lingering around the exit. Taking a look around, she was able to spot a book from the corner of her eyes.

_"Now this is an interesting surprise, what is a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf doing here? No, forget that, what is an infamous Muggle literature even doing here in the first place? I didn't realize that any of them knew who this person was_." Hermione thought to herself while eyeing the offending book and rubbing her forehead. It wasn't every day that she came across something so abrasive and so out of place, and yet impossible to ignore. Against her better judgment, she decided to pick it up and stow it away.

"Let's get a move on Granger," Draco roughly growled over her shoulder. Spinning around, Hermione saw that her blonde arch-nemesis had finally caught up to her, and he didn't look worse for the wear either. She was tempted to ask him how he felt but thought better of it and chose to walk in silence instead.

The design of the next room appeared to be quite simplistic. The exit itself was not too far off a distance and there were no visible, hostile threats in the immediate vicinity. However, there was one major problem that separated the space between the floor they were standing upon and the next outlet – water. It was what the Muggles essentially called a swimming pool.

After estimating the range of the body of water, Draco took off his robe, making sure to secure all of his belongings before tying it around his neck. Taking a deep breath, he sloppily dove into the water and flailed his arms around for a few seconds before managing to find the surface.

"Granger, what are you waiting for? We don't have time to waste, let's go."

"Um...Malfoy?" Hermione said with a bit of hesitation in her voice. "Do you think you could help me?"

Draco looked at her for a second before coming out from the water. Throwing his hands up in the air, he then said, "Come on now, it's really not that bad. For fuck's sake woman, it's just bloody water. Now hurry up and get in before our luck really begins to run out."

Lightly sighing, Hermione shook her head before informing him, "Malfoy, I tried to tell you this before, but I'm not particularly fond of traversing through a body of water where I'm unable to see the bottom. Not since the time I almost drowned when I went to the beach with my parents..." she mumbled, looking away in embarrassment.

Draco threw his hands up in disbelief at this sudden discovery. Here he was doing everything that he could to survive, including the unbearable tolerance of the Mudblood. But because of some unsavory past experience, she was not willing to get into the water and swim.

_"Absolutely fantastic,"_ Draco let out a dry bitter laugh while shaking his head. Running his hands through his hair, he exhaled in frustration and asked, "Alright then, so what? I don't see any other way to get to the other side, do you? We can try and risk using a spell to help you levitate, but that just might trigger some hidden Evolved to come out and attack us."

"I don't know, alright?!" Hermione snapped back. "If you hadn't shoved me into the sewers in the first place, then maybe we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"If I hadn't...? You've become absolutely mental now, Granger. It seems like suicidal, Gryffindorish tendencies aren't the only things that you picked up from Potty and Weasel."

"At least they chose a path that they believe in," Hermione responded in a cool and composed manner.

Draco inadvertently felt his mouth form into a visible scowl. There it was, the hollowing reminder of all his bad decisions which ultimately led him into this unfavorable position. It aggravated him when he realized that she had been able to deduce his regret in the small snippet of information that he mindlessly tossed.

"Look Malfoy, the faster we solve this, then the faster we can get out and go our separate ways, right?"

Turning his back to her, Draco closed his eyes and spoke, "If I can find something that's strong and sturdy enough to hold you up on the water, then would you be willing to use it as a float? I'll do my best to pull you on it as long as you kick your feet around and help propel me forward."

Even though he was the one that made the suggestion, he could not see a single item that fit the description. Growing impatient at the lack of advancement and his own ineptitude, Draco saw fit to lash out when he heard Hermione speak up again.

"Malfoy, do you remember the theory that I had?"

No response.

"Have you wondered why we haven't seen more visible Evolved around here, besides the lifeless one back at the entrance of the sewers?"

This time a grunt.

Clearing her voice, she then continued, "I believe the Evolved cannot deal with an overexposure of water. The one that we were able to sneak past, I believe its body was showing symptoms of either having been bloated or becoming bloated. Also, the one that had caught my ankles while we were jumping around, it wasn't strong enough to hold its grip on me. So the non-responsive and sluggish nature, combined with how its skin felt, and the lack of existing ones here are why I am able to come to this conclusion."

Draco was about to ridicule her when he promptly closed his mouth before opening it again. Licking his lips, he massaged the base of his jaw and shook his head before asking, "Wait, are you telling me to go back to that hideous bugger, drown that thing, then bring the corpse back here?"

"Well, color me impressed Malfoy, I guess your grades weren't just a product of your family's money," Hermione said in a genuine voice.

There was also the option of allowing Hermione to grab onto Draco's shoulders while he swam across the water. But it was implicitly understood by both individuals that there were certain acts which would not be tolerated under any circumstance – minus the threat of death.

"Shut up you blathering skag," he mumbled. "It's unbelievable how you're willing to experiment with this unproven theory of yours and ride upon a dead body across the water. All this because you don't want to go for a little swim."

"Look, I know that the fear I'm harboring is quite ridiculous, especially given our life or death situation. But human beings can be quite irrational, especially given the way that they function..."

Not wanting to hear anymore, he promptly began tracing his steps back to the previous tunnels.

* * *

**[The details were extremely blurry and there was no possible way to retrieve all the information, but she ensured me that he was able to find a bloated body and bring it back to where the witch was waiting]**

"Damn, this was heavy," Draco muttered before lifting and slamming the corpse onto the floor. Poking it a few times with his foot, he then shrugged and said, "Alright, it's about time we finally got out of here. Let's go."

The Malfoy heir placed his foot on top of the dead monster, with a sickening and flat sounding squelch coming out from it. Letting out a deep breath, he then kicked the bloated corpse, effectively peeling some of its skin off while watching it roll into the water. Just like Hermione had predicted, the ballooned body was floating on the water.

"Here we go again," Draco murmured, making sure to secure his pockets before jumping into the water. Swimming over to the Evolved, he tested the corpse's balance by putting his weight on top of it. Seeing it hold up under the increased pressure, Hermione carefully reached over to the floating body before descending into the water.

A brief measure of panic manifested onto Hermione when the body began to sink. However, a sense of normalcy returned to her after the body quickly settled itself and floated back up to the surface. Once they both became situated in their positions, each of them fulfilled their end of the plan. Draco began swimming, pulling the corpse forward while the witch, with her eyes closed and desperately clinging onto the creature, tried to help by flailing her legs. The process was lengthy and tedious, but it was able to get the job done. Getting back onto dry ground, the pair took a moment to catch their breath before advancing ahead.

"Where...are we?" Hermione couldn't help but gape at the complete change in scenario, leaving both of them to stare in amazement.

The area that the two had entered seemed to be a completely different section than the dirty sewers that were behind them. Rather than a tight and linear passage with a straight-forward path, this one was a large and vast space that had multiple exits, along with different floor levels that were connected by vertical pipes, that could all be potentially taken. There were also a multitude of pipelines which were all interconnected, linking them all together like an extended network that had no end in sight. It also lacked the depth of sewage water, with the only signs of it being the small puddles on the floor or the small amounts dripping from the aforementioned pipes.

The only similarity? The presence of the Evolved, or lack thereof, at the very least.

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," Hermione wistfully said after snapping out of her stupor. "I've always wanted to say that."

"Toto? Kansas? What the hell are you going on about now, Granger?" Draco asked, confused by the remark from the witch.

"Ah it's...never mind, it's a Muggle saying, so you wouldn't understand the charm behind it."

Draco sighed while muttering something under his breath before replying, "So, how do you want to do this? Randomly pick one and go through it, hope to Merlin that it's the correct one to lead us to the exit?"

Hermione frowned while she shook her head, "I'm not too sure what you're trying to insinuate, Malfoy. Because even if our magic wasn't restricted, I can't recall a spell that will teleport us out of this forsaken place. Also, judging from these conditions, I would say that it's a less than five percent chance that we will find a living human to aid us."

"Ah, so there are some thing's that even you are ignorant of. Color me unimpressed, since it looks like your grades are solely based upon the textbooks," Draco sneered before hooking his arms around a long, vertical pipe and effortlessly sliding down from it.

Hermione was in utter disbelief at Draco's sheer audacity of throwing the insult back at her. She found it difficult to be mad at the taunt when it mirrored the format that she had just recently used. Brushing it off, she carefully reached her hand out to the same pipeline before jumping forward and wrapping her arms around it, allowing her to slide down to the lower floor. Landing next to the blonde, Hermione raised an eyebrow before asking, "So, I gather that you have a plan, since you decided to recklessly come down here?"

"Not really, the idea came into my head and I thought it would be fun, so I gave it a try."

"That's it?" Hermione asked in an incredulous tone, "We came down here because you decided to give into your impulses?"

Draco nonchalantly shrugged while shoving his hands into his robes, "Don't get your knickers in such a twist Granger. No matter how you look at it, we wouldn't be able to solve anything just by staring at each other and talking like we're doing now. Let's go, I'm just going to choose one and see what shows up at the end."

The duo decided to go exploring through the tunnels, making sure to mentally note the ones they were visiting so that they would not lose their way. For much of the investigation, they were unable to locate the exit. The search was not considered to be a complete waste of effort, since they had made a few discoveries which began to whet Hermione's inquisitiveness.

Many of these tunnels wound up being dead ends, with the continuing path getting blocked by either a cave in, a gaping hole on the floor, or a door that wouldn't open. The last one piqued her interest since there were no locks or wards that held these things shut. Furthermore, she had heard odd 'beeping' sounds coming from the other side. For her, the only tincture of regret that she currently had was the overall timing of her circumstance. If she was in more favorable capacity, then she would not have minded doing a thorough examination to uncover whatever secrets were buried here.

"Whoever created this bloody maze is a sadist, a sadist with a pipe-fetish. We could very well draw ourselves into insanity before we're able to find the exit. How people were able to find or do anything inside of this gigantic space with no directions is beyond me."

"Wait," Hermione blurted out, her eyes and mouth growing in size. "I think it's starting to make sense to me. All of these pipes and the rooms containing them...they're all connected! That's it!"

Draco rolled his eyes and sighed before responding, "Please don't patronize me Granger, I'm not a dimwit like the two wankers that you are so fond of. And speaking of them, I'm surprised that there hasn't been news of another breakdown from Potter, or of the Weasel having to shove his foot into his mouth due to the absence of tact in that pillock."

Ignoring the affront that was directed at her friends, she crossed her arms and asked, "Alright then, instead of whinging or making these snide comments, why don't you come up with some ideas so that we can get out of here?"

"Not interested," was the curt response he gave before he moved onto the next entrance.

"Don't let him get to you," Hermione whispered to herself. "Once this is over with, the Order will take care of the rest."

The two walked in silence through the tunnel, neither bothering to confront the other about the appearance of awkward tension between them. While they had done their best to act civilly toward each other, their latest spat was a reminder of just how much they despised one another. A harsh reminder that they were only tolerating the other's presence for the sake of surviving through this clusterfuck of a mission. The longer they stayed together, the more it felt like an impossible task for Draco and Hermione to complete.

They had once again run into another impasse, this time a giant hole on the floor was preventing them from advancing any further. Draco couldn't help but droop his shoulders and sigh at the sight of another dead end. Preparing himself for the trip back to the starting point, he spun around just in time to witness Hermione dashing right past him and jumping straight into the gap.

"AAaahhh!"

Draco walked over to the edge of the pit and took a peek down below. He found it impossible to discern anything from the pitch black darkness that was completely enveloping the hole. The Malfoy heir paused for a brief second, wondering if he had unwittingly violated the magical oath. When he didn't feel any sort of tug or pull from a 'mysterious source' on his magical core, it solidified the fact that Hermione was not dead. Letting out a sigh of relief, the blonde was half tempted to leave the witch behind, but he knew that he would be chasing after her.

"Oy Granger, you awake over there?" Draco hesitantly asked, wanting to make sure that she was conscious before he followed her down the hole

"What is this?! How does something like this exist down here, much less in Magical Britain?"

"Well, here goes," Draco visibly exhaled before taking the leap of faith. Thankfully, the drop itself was not as steep as he had feared, since he was able to land on his own two feet. However, the reprieve was short-lived when he found himself clumsily falling on his bottom and quickly sliding backward. He had also discovered, much to his chagrin, that he was unable to halt his momentum with there being a complete absence of friction.

The spiraling descent was rather brief and anticlimactic with Draco getting flung out of an open door. Letting out a small huff, he picked himself up and did his best to tidy up his robe, then proceeded to open his mouth to rip the Muggleborn a new one for her rash decision. It never happened, or rather, his spiteful anger was replaced by intrigue and confusion when he took a look around the room.

"What the hell is this?" Draco spat out, not being able to comprehend what it was that he was seeing.

Upon hearing his voice, Hermione turned around and raised one of her eyebrows. "Well, this entire contraption is what the Muggles would call a computer. I can't say that I'm entirely familiar with how this particular machine would run, since it isn't set-up in its usual way."

"Come-pewder? Masheen?"

Plastered against the wall was a giant monitor, one that was split into multiple sections that projected different displays. Right below it was a table that held a whole slew of different buttons, all of which were marked with garbled letters and numbers. Interestingly enough, there were manifold pipes connected to both the screen and the panel. On top of all that, there were runes carved all around them.

It was a grand spectacle indeed.

"This is truly incredible!" Hermione gushed. "I don't know what they did to make this function, but the combination of technology and magic is really mind boggling to the point that I can't even fathom how they made this possible. I mean, doing something like this should be near impossible since the Headmaster did explain how the lack of such items was only because of badly these things become haywire and the sorts... "

When Draco learned that the odd device was of Muggle origin, his first reaction was to scoff and ignore it altogether. However, he was also curious about the point that the Mudblood had raised concerning the technology inside of the sewers. Ultimately, he found his pride overriding his inquisitiveness, making him squelch his interest. Letting out a sigh, he immediately went about scouring the room for an exit.

The young witch on the other hand carefully studied the scribed runes, doing her best to memorize them for future reference. She also looked down upon the buttons and couldn't resist pressing a few of them. Just as she expected, either they were not working or her input sequence was entirely wrong. Backing away from the controller, Hermione looked at the entirety of the board, hoping to come across some sort of revelation.

"I don't see a door anywhere...do we get out by climbing back up the slide?"

While Draco continued the search, Hermione kept looking at the strange conglomerate of letters and numbers that were strewn on the control panel. It seemed oddly familiar to her, yet her inability to place her finger on the reason baffled her. Did she see this in a dream? Maybe from a past experience that she glossed over?

"This is complete shite," Draco complained loudly. "There are no doors anywhere and it's impossible to go up that slide without the use of magic. It's like taking a N.E.W.T. in Arithmancy, blindfolded."

Feeling frustrated by the mental roadblock, Hermione was about to impolitely tell the snobby pureblood to quiet down when inspiration struck her. Shakily taking a deep breath, she looked over the buttons once again with a different perspective on them as her mind began to make sense of what her eyes were seeing.

"Malfoy! If you weren't such a deplorable tosser, then I would hug you right now!"

Draco froze in his steps and turned to face the speaker while glowering, "Don't you dare touch me, I don't want to be corrupted by inferior blood."

Hermione felt too jubilant to have her mood be dampened by a petty insult. Immediately putting her hypothesis to the test, she pressed a few series of buttons and turned her head to the giant monitor. It had the effect of replacing the static, blank screen with visions of the tunnels that they had visited.

"Look, aren't these the places that we've already been through?" she asked, finally getting his attention.

"I'm not sure what I'm looking at or how you even did it, but I do know that this won't help us with our problem now, will it? Would you stop playing around with that hideous thing and do something useful for once?"

"Just hold on a minute," Hermione said as she pointed to the projector. "You might not know this, but generally speaking, computers are able to store an infinite amount of information inside of them."

"Infinite?" Draco repeated as he looked at the machine and snorted. "Granger, I'm fairly certain that you've completely lost the plot now. Muggles showing intelligence? Please, the only thing they've demonstrated is that they're no better than a magical creature - violent and boorish. At least the animals know their place in our society."

Hermione palmed her face and shook her head while letting out a sigh before speaking, "I get it, you don't like Muggles, so just stop repeating yourself alright? It's getting tiresome to keep hearing the same spiel come out from you." Pinching the bridge of her nose, she turned back to the computer and started to press some buttons again.

Draco stared at the Muggle-born for a few seconds before shaking his head and walking away from her. Letting out a sigh, he leaned back against a wall and closed his eyes. Usually, he would have made a retort to the scathing comment that Hermione had made, leading them into a larger argument. However, he did not feel compelled into following the usual routine, instead opting to stay silent and listen to the odd sounds coming from the machine.

_**Beep beep beep** _

Some time passed between the two, with Hermione busily tapping away at the magically imbued keyboard and Draco taking a light nap. It was a surreal passing moment, with both of them occupying the same room, but neither wanting to agitate the other. The silence was eventually broken by the bushy-haired witch.

"Malfoy, come take a look at this." Hermione excitedly pointed to the monitor. The screen had split off into a dozen or so smaller panels, each of them holding a different view from the other. However, the main aspect that made her thrilled with the result was what was shown for each of the split templates. All of the areas that they had visited, along with the ones that they had missed, were in full display for them.

Draco blinked a few times, ignoring the useless yapping that came from his female companion's mouth. His eyes glazed over the screen, trying to absorb as much of the information as he possibly could. Even though he still did not come close to understanding this Muggle artifact, he begrudgingly gave it a modicum of respect.

"Granger," Draco managed to cut in between the girl's explanation, "I'm guessing that you didn't call me over just to show me this, right?"

Hermione shook her head and pointed to the upper right-hand corner. It was one of the doors that the pair had to ignore since it was locked with a strange mechanism. They had tried to cast an Alohomora on it, but the door was still tightly shut.

"And...now it's open!" Hermione proclaimed with a hint of pride in her voice. The blonde wizard squinted at the still picture, watching the light surrounding the door turn from red to green. He shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose before replying,

"That still doesn't answer my initial question, Granger, how the hell are we getting out of this bloody place? We've been stuck here for an eternity and a half!"

Biting her lower lip, Hermione shook her head and felt her cheeks heat up while answering, "I-I was a bit too busy trying to figure this thing out, so I may have overlooked the conundrum that we are currently facing."

Huffing in frustration, Draco spat on the ground before stomping over to the machine. Gritting his teeth, he then raised his leg and gave the keyboard a hard kick. Letting out a small yelp, Hermione stood up and tried to separate the blonde away from the computer.

"Malfoy, what are you doing?"

Growling, Draco shoved the girl to the side and swiftly kicked the contraption a few more times, each successive hit resulting in a harder one from the last. Seeing his actions producing considerable results, he was prepared to damage the machine again when he was halted by Hermione. More specifically, she had charged right into the blonde, tackling him with her shoulders and causing both of them to fall to the ground.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Hermione screeched, looking at her arch nemesis in disbelief. "Just stop it already!"

"I don't bloody care anymore, Granger," Draco responded in a tired tone. "Rather than look for an exit, all you've done is tinker with that stupid Muggle contraption. I swear to Merlin, do you want to get out of here, or be stuck down in this hole all day?"

Before the argument could further escalate to its usual caustic heights, loud beeping sounds from the computer interrupted any thoughts of continuation.

**OPENING** **DATABASE** **– ACCESSING EXPERIMENT FILE: WRAITH PROJECT**

Opening his mouth, Draco was about to ask Hermione a question when she quickly shook her head, immediately denying any knowledge of what the machine was about to do. Both of them stood back up on their feet and approached the giant monitor. It only took a few moments for the computer to start uploading a wall of text onto the screen.

**NOTE #1: A HYPOTHESIS WAS FORMED ON THE ORIGINS OF THESE CREATURES CALLED EVOLVED. WE ARE IN NEED OF SOME TEST SUBJECTS.**

Now, Draco was no slouch when it came to academics, he certainly prided himself on being able to produce the needed results to pass his class. But, when he saw that the presented information hardly contained anything helpful for their current situation, he went back to searching for the exit.

On the other hand, Hermione was unable to detach her eyes from what she was reading. At first, she was tempted to emulate Draco and completely ignore the computer. But she found herself unable to do so since her innate curiosity demanded that she continue reading. Her efforts eventually paid out dividends when she began to learn some interesting details. She learned the purpose behind the creation of such a grandiose facility, and also what they were attempting to research. At least that was what she was able to digest from all the data that was on display.

"Oy Granger!" Hermione's ears were able to discern a change in tonality from Draco's voice. Gone was the frustrated whinging that accompanied him for the past half hour, with it being replaced by one filled with hope.

"I think I found a way out," Draco said while pointing to a square tile on the wall. "From what I can tell, it's a type of ventilation shaft of sorts."

Crouching down, Draco wrapped his fingers around the holes of the vent cover and gave it a hard tug. Managing to pull it off from the wall, he wiped his hands upon his robe before saying, "Granger, I'm going on ahead, I'd rather not spend another minute down here."

Before Hermione could make a rebuttal, Draco ducked his head into the ventilation area and started crawling through it. He was pleasantly surprised to find the shaft to be relatively cleaner than expected. Of course, his experience with these things were limited to when he had explored the Malfoy Manor and subsequently thought of the vent akin to a 'secret passage'.

Partway through the passage, Draco spotted a familiar looking parchment from the corner of his eyes. Hesitating for a split second, he reached out and grabbed the piece of paper. His eyes all but confirmed that this was a note written by his ex-classmate.

_(illegible scribbling)_  
_This is it_  
_I'm going to die_  
_(illegible scribbling)_  
_I'm trapped here_  
_Everyone else is dead_  
_(illegible scribbling)_  
_(illegible scribbling)_  
_Don't come here  
_ _(illegible scribbling)_

_-Not_

The legibility of the note, combined with the incomplete signature of his ex-mate all pointed to the sign of a desperate individual. Draco was curious on both the status of Theodore, and the timeline of the note. Was he alright? Was he still alive? Just what was it that spooked him into writing at such a frantic pace? He was also concerned with this threat that had placed his fellow Slytherin in such a state of panic. Whatever this thing was, it still existed and was out there roaming the sewers.

Letting out a sigh, Draco rubbed the tip of his nose before crumpling up the note and tossing it to the side. He knew that lingering on this issue would not lead to any tangible answers. If there was an important lesson that the House of Slytherin taught, it was business first, pleasure second. With how he was conditioned with his past upbringings, he found this to be quite difficult. Anything that he wanted, his parents would indulge his desire. It was only after an intervention from some older Slytherin members that he had realized the errors of his mannerism.

_"It looks like this is the end of the vents."_ Draco took a look around to confirm his conjecture. Aside from the circular fence that impeded his forward progress, he saw nothing else resembling an exit.

"Granger, hurry up and get over here already."

"Wait, hold on a second Malfoy, I think there's something you should be aware of here..."

"Don't know, don't care," Draco muttered under his breath while rolling his eyes in exasperation. The two of them were co-existing simply upon the agreement of tolerance, which meant that they were interacting solely for the purpose of surviving. Even under these terms, he had found her to be maddeningly impossible.

Draco briefly examined the ventilation exit and found it unlocked. Pushing the gate to the side, he slid himself out from the last remaining portion of the shaft. Gracefully landing on his feet, the blonde wizard took stock of his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the massive drop in temperature. It wasn't a momentary chill where the difference in one room could be felt from the next. Rather, the entire area that he landed in was a giant freezer.

"For Salazar's sake," Draco said while wrapping his hands around his arms. "Why is there such a big fridge inside of the sewers? I should probably head back before..."

"...honestly Malfoy, if you had just waited a few minutes for me to explain things, then you would know what would be at the end of the ventilation...shaft?"

Hermione knelt down onto the floor and copied Draco's poise – arms wrapped tightly around her body. Shivering from the absurd, frigid condition of the room, she did her best to create some form of insult. "Malfoy...you impatient tosser," she managed to sputter out in between the chattering of her teeth. "If you only waited...for...me...?"

Any conversation that Hermione wanted to have was eliminated when she saw the object that Draco was pointing to. It was a body – a frozen, naked one to be more precise, and on top of that, there were more than a handful of them hanging down from the ceiling. After further inspection, they saw that all the corpses seemed to have three things in common. The first would be in that even with the lack of any garment covering them, neither of the two were able to discern any of the genders. Secondly was how every single one was visibly missing at least one limb, and their faces as well. Lastly was how that all of the bodies had the Dark Mark manifested on their left forearm.

Still, unlike the previous room that was beholden to the mysterious Muggle technology, this one was quite bare. Aside from the grotesque anatomy decorum and a large table with red spots, the room did not appear to have anything else worth noting. After careful inspection, Draco noticed that the ruby splotches on the big stand were not part of the intended design. Even though he was physically unable to confirm it, he was 99% certain of its identification.

"This is blood," Draco said in a matter-of-fact tone while brushing his hand over the frozen table.

Raising her right eyebrow, Hermione bit her lower lip and tilted her head before asking, "You sure that's blood? I mean..." The rest of her sentence trailed off with the witch wistfully rubbing the sides of her arm. Sure, she had a few things that she wanted to inquire about, but none of it seemed pertinent at the moment.

"I think the exit's right over there," Draco dryly remarked, pointing to the opposite side. The two quickly made their way around to the door and attempted to open it when they came across a minor problem.

"Malfoy, hurry up and get that thing open! I'm cold and freezing and...and cold here!"

"S-shut up Granger! Can't you see that I'm trying?" Draco snipped back, doing his best to open the door. Much to his irritation, he found that the handle was not moving because of either the cold temperature or the lock.

_**"Alohomora!"**_ Hermione shouted out behind him, her voice indicating the clear impatience that she was feeling. Unfortunately, the lock picking spell was not enough to get the door open.

"Merlin, Granger! Are you trying to-"

"Shut it, Malfoy!" Granger glared at him coldly, "Unless the next words from your mouth are ones that'll help us out of this bloody freezer. I don't wanna hear it!"

Draco scowled but held his tongue and turned his attention back to the originator of their frustration. Making up his mind, he pushed Mudblood to the side while growling at her, "Out of the way, Granger."

The Malfoy heir ran forward and slammed his entire weight upon the frozen blockade. This resulted in hurting both his body and his ego, with the door still remaining shut. Rubbing the part that he had injured, Draco looked over at Hermione before asking her, "Are you gonna stand there and do fuck all, or will you help me with this bloody door?"

_**"Depulso!"**_ Hermione shouted, watching the spell hit the entryway.

"Granger!" Draco furiously hissed at the caster. "Did the drop in temperature also manage to drop your intelligence?"

Coolly looking back at the pureblood, Hermione quipped, "Sod it, Malfoy. If we're going to be in any danger, then it won't be compounded by the fact that I've cast two spells in a row. Also, I'm not as strong as you are, which means that if I were to emulate your actions, we wouldn't have been able to accomplish anything."

Digging his hands into his hair, Draco glared at Hermione before kicking the door out of frustration. Everything that was boiling up to that point became extinguished when he heard the door creak, signaling that it had finally moved. Taking a step back, he motioned with his head for the witch to use the spell again.

_**"Depulso!"**_ Hermione cast it once more, causing the door to be pushed a bit more forward, giving the two just enough space to squeeze by. When they stepped into the next section, neither individuals were prepared for the aberrant sight that greeted them.

The room had three rows of lockers, all of them lined up perfectly parallel with each other. At the far corner was a ladder and at the opposite side was presumably the exit. However, the spectacle that horrified them out of their wits were the loose body parts that were found everywhere they looked. Arms, legs, spleens, kidneys, and anything else that could be found in the human anatomy were scattered all over the place. To make matters worse, their sense of smell was also violated by a horrendously, thick repugnant scent that was coming from the rotting carcasses.

"M-Malfoy..." Hermione softly spoke out, her condensed breath visibly huffing from her lips, doing her best not to gag from the sight and smell. "I think we should leave this place right now."

Noting the desperation in her voice, Draco nodded in response and hurried over to the other side of the room. Just like all the other doors they had previously encountered, this one was locked as well. Rather than waste time and struggle with the lock, they decided to explore an alternative route – the ladder that they had seen earlier.

"Hold on," Draco said in between his clattering teeth, "I'll go alone from here, stay here and watch my back in case something...comes up." Rubbing his forehead and mumbling to himself, he rummaged around his robes before taking out the black firearm. Tossing it to Hermione, the blonde continued to mutter things before shouting out, "If you see something, just shoot it alright?"

Draco shook his head of any incoming second thoughts before quickly scaling the short ladder. Landing on the second tiered platform, the blonde scouted around and found a metallic panel at the end of the hallway. Aside from the big red button, he was unable to spot anything else of interest around the area.

_"Now that I think about it,"_ Draco mulled while pressing the button.  _"Why is this the only place in the entire room not to have any dismembered body parts lying on the floor?"_

"Malfoy! Whatever you did, it seems to have worked!"

Shaking off the lingering thoughts, Draco began to make his way back to the exit. Unfortunately, when he made his way to the ladder he found his progress entirely halted. Standing in the blonde's way was a monstrosity so mind-bogglingly hideous that it literally left him paralyzed and speechless.

The mutant was one that transcended the imagination of even the worst creatures that were conjured up to scare young children to obey their parents. This monster, just like the Evolved, was completely pale with veins threatening to pop out from under its grey skin. But, that was where the similarities ended, with this one being almost double its size and height. Just by standing it was able to give off an intimidating aura that was only compounded by its disgusting appearance. The body of the creature was essentially a big slab of rotting human flesh. It seemed like a bunch of inward organs had been plastered and sewn onto it without much care for detail. There were also numerous arms and legs that appeared to be attached to the monster at different angles. Perhaps the most disturbing thing was all of the human-like faces that appeared on its head, with some of the eyes and mouth moving, indicating that they were still somewhat active.

Draco had no idea how he could've missed such a monstrosity in an area that didn't have any visibly hidden crevices. Either the monster was able to disillusion itself or it had come from the one place that he had failed to account for – the ceiling.

For a moment, it seemed like the giant blob of decrepit flesh had somehow missed Draco's presence. This reprieve only lasted for a brief second when one of the eyes on the back of its head locked onto the blonde. A face located around the side twisted in agony before letting out an extremely loud and barbaric howl. He stared wide eyed at this sickening display before blurting out,

"Merlin!"

**[Merlin!]**

The grotesque monster clumsily managed to turn itself around, squaring up the front part of its body with Draco's line of sight. The Malfoy heir tightly gripped his wand and stared at the blob with total desperation. He knew that there was no possible venue for him to safely retreat to. Going backwards would only lead him back to the button and trying to get past this thing would be an exercise that only reckless Gryffindors would attempt. He did have one option that he could try, but it would be more of a last ditch effort than anything else.

Draco wrapped his arms around himself, trying to stave off the chill that he felt crawling into his bones. If there was one positive that he could draw from this, it was that the Mudblood wasn't anywhere near him. He wagered that when the door became unlocked, she had hurried out as soon as she could to get out of the room.

_"I would do the same thing if I were in her shoes, especially if I knew a monster like this would be waiting at the top level."_ Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath before rolling up his left sleeve. Slipping his right hand down into the pocket, he tightly gripped his wand and mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. However, once the moment arrived, he found himself unable to control his own body.

When the monster closed the proximity between them, Draco had inexplicably released his fingers from the wand and found himself staring right at one of the mutilated face. The thing's eyes were half-open and scarred, the mouth was drooling black sludge from the corners of its mouth, while its swollen, bubbling tongue was constantly exposed. Still, even if he wanted to, for some odd reason he was unable to tear his eyes away from this travesty.

Draco blinked a few times and smiled when he suddenly felt a strange sense of serenity wash over him. It didn't bother him that the giant, gray blob of compiled fat was closely hovering over him. He also didn't panic when one of the distorted faces opened its mouth and began vomiting chunks of rotting flesh. The spilled guts, in turn, became attached to the monster's chest while its intestine slowly started crawling up the blonde's feet. Before he could comprehend anything that he had witnessed, a flash of light temporarily blinded him.

"Th-Theo?" Draco asked in wonder, his sense of sight having been returned to him. Against such impossible odds and circumstances, he was somehow meeting his old classmate again. "Is...is that really you? I mean, how? What?"

Looking at Draco with a sad expression on his face, Theodore responded,  _"You know, you and the rest of the Slytherin were right all along."_

"Theo..."

_"I started trusting people,"_ Theodore answered in a despondent manner. Laughing bitterly, he continued,  _"Instead of staying true to my roots, I began putting my confidence in others, especially those that weren't part of Slytherin."_

Draco began to feel his head throb, his knees shake, and his vision blur. Something was wrong with him, right?

_"They betrayed me Draco! All of them! They didn't even think twice before choosing to completely abandon me in favor of saving themselves!"_

Everything was starting to become white. Where was he again? Huh?

_"Draco,"_ the familiar voice continued to speak, " _Me, you, and the rest of the snakes...we were all cursed from the moment we were sorted into the Slytherin house."_

Draco Lucius Malfoy. That name sounded like it came from the distant past and was in some way connected to him.

_"TRUST NOBODY DRACO! DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID! YOU SHOULD-"_

_**Bang!** _

Theodore suddenly halted in his rage fueled speech and slowly tilted his head sideways while staring blankly at Draco.

_**Bang!** _

A loud, harsh screech followed the sound of the second shot of the discharged firearm, and at the same time, Draco had unceremoniously fallen to one knee while feeling a huge drop of pressure in the atmosphere. He had found himself profusely sweating and gasping for breath. Confused and disoriented by the sudden shift in the scenery not once, but twice, he shakily brought his hand over his forehead before puking out blood.

"...Malfoy? Are you alright, Malfoy?"

The blonde slumped to the floor and felt the back of his head bash against something solid. He was aware that someone was trying to grab his attention, but he found it impossible to focus on anything around him. Closing his eyes, he took a second to recompose himself before slowly opening them again.

"G-Granger?" Draco managed to croak out, still feeling weak from the after-effects of the odd flash of hallucination that he had experienced. "What are you doing here?"

Hermione shook her head, "We have to get out of here now! I don't think two shots from the firearm will be good enough to keep that...that experiment down for long."

Without thinking about her actions, Hermione extended her hand to give the blonde some assistance. Whether it was due to the urgency of their situation or the poor condition that Draco was in, he took it without any complaints. As soon as he was able to stand back up, the pair hurriedly made their way out of the upper level. When they passed by the fallen, deformed mutant, Draco noticed that all of the 'faces' on the head were grimacing in agony. However, there was one in particular that caught his attention, and that was the one he knew as 'Theodore Nott'.

"Malfoy!" Hermione shouted, tearing Draco away from the desolate gaze of the creature. "You're doing it again! Don't stop to stare at the Wraith! Just keep moving or we're both gonna die!"

Weakly stumbling forward, Draco managed to pry himself away from the magnetizing field of the blob. They were able to climb down the ladder without a hitch, but once they had reached the lockers, they heard the furious roar of the monster. Doing their best to ignore the reverberating echo of the creature's outcry, both of them headed straight for the door. Unfortunately for them, the rotten ball of flesh turned out to be a lot more agile than it appeared. It had somehow managed to jump down from the second floor all the way to where they were, all in what seemed like a single bound to them.

"?!"

The sound that came out of it was a combination of a garbled mishmash of noise that ranged from a high pitched scream to a harsh low growl. It was an unidentifiable mess of intonation that rattled the ear drums of the two individuals. Both Draco and Hermione clambered backward, making a run for the lockers, hoping that it would provide them a temporary cover.

"Granger, I'm going to create an opening for you to shoot that firearm at the fat monstrosity. Make sure it's a good one alright?"

Before Hermione could ask for him to clarify what his plan was, the aforementioned mutant had ripped through the locker, forcing her to jump away from Draco. She had no idea what to expect from her arch-nemesis since all he offered was a vague description of what he might do. For a moment, the witch considered buying herself time by hitting the thing with a couple of spells. But she decided to keep herself from casting anything, in fear of it being a waste of her energy.

_**"Expulso!"**_ Draco's voice came echoing from the other side. A burst of blue light exploded right on the mutant's body, the produced force being enough to knock it off balance. However, it was obvious that it wouldn't be enough to do any significant damage to it.

_**"Confringo!"**_ The blasting curse came flying onto the gray blob, making it stumble further onto the torn down lockers. Hermione stood in amazement at the amount of sheer power that she felt behind each of the spells that Draco was casting when she heard him address her. "Granger, what are you waiting for? Shoot it in the face! I can't this do for much longer!  _ **Reducto!"**_

Lifting up the black hand cannon with both hands, Hermione felt her arms tremble while she was aiming it at the creature's head. Taking a deep breath, she started reminding herself of one of her most cherished childhood memories. It was enough to calm her nerves and stop her hands from shaking long enough for her to unload a few shots at the giant mass of flesh.

"ARGH!" The disgusting sludge gargled out, awkwardly flopping down to the floor before flailing around like a fish out of water. While a good portion of its head had sustained an injury, Hermione didn't let her guard down and prepared herself to discharge the firearm again.

"Granger!" Draco gasped out weakly, running to her side. "Let's get out of here, now!"

When they noticed the Wraith slowly getting back up, the duo redoubled their efforts in leaving the room as fast as they could. Once they reached the exit, Hermione paused at the door and began tinkering with something on the side. Draco immediately became panicked from both the witch stopping to play with something and the rapidly approaching monster.

Pulling on Hermione's robes, he angrily shouted at her, "What the bloody hell are you doing?! You're gonna get us both killed!"

"I'm almost done here! Just let go and trust me, alright?

Draco glowered at Hermione but instead of arguing with her, decided to stand in front of her. Just when the conglomerate of decaying flesh came into view, she shouted, "I'm ready, let's leave!"

Not wasting another second, the pair quickly jumped out of the door, only to see the inhuman creature closing in on them. For a split second, Draco could've sworn that a saddened expression had overtaken his old classmate while he had mouthed to him what seemed to be,  _'Trust nobody.'_

Overcome with fury, Draco spat out, "Merlin! The door! Close it, Granger! Close it!"

Letting out a roar, the Wraith made a last ditch attempt by stretching out one of its arms to try and grab one of them. However, it was at that moment the exit, without warning, suddenly slammed itself shut.


End file.
